Keeping the situation in mind, the University of Delhi has recently announced its decision to explore the option of reopening colleges for physical classes for the students of the science stream. This decision of reopening campus is coming keeping in mind the practical component and project work that form a part of the science courses that would be enhanced with students learning in an actual atmosphere rather than through an online module. The classes will happen in a blended mode to accommodate the demands of the various courses.
Registrar Vikas Gupta said that the university will issue relevant guidelines about this by next week. This announcement was made by Mr Gupta in a webinar that was conducted to give an overview of all information regarding undergraduate admissions.
“The classes will happen in blended mode. For students of science stream, the syllabus of which involves a lot of practical and project work, we are exploring the prospect of reopening the campus gradually,” he said.
He went on to further add, “Arts and commerce students should have patience.” The news of reopening campus comes as a welcome surprise to students who have not been able to attend physical colleges for the most part since the pandemic set in. In line with this announcement, the following order was published on the official website:
Before the terrifying second wave caused immeasurable damage, the university had opened colleges for the final year students to access labs while conducting online theory classes. This blend was seen as the only reasonable way of functioning, beneficial for students. However, this was suspended and everything shifted to the online mode after the second wave peaked.
Alongside this, the university has opened its portal for registration to undergraduate courses on the 2nd of August. The portal will be open till the end of August, the last date of registration being 31st. Some 70,000 seats spread across 63 colleges under the aegis of the university are open for students wishing to gain a position in the various undergraduate programmes offered. Within an hour of the portal going live, the university saw around 8000 aspirants registering for the university. This year the competition is expected to increase with percentages soaring in 12th board exams and a gigantic number of students scoring as high or more than 95%. The cut-offs are likely to skyrocket for the undergrad programs.
It is unsure whether the university shall open its doors for all streams given the unpredictability of the pandemic. However, it is likely to be considered if all guidelines and protocols are appropriately followed by faculty and students of the science stream in this initial step of reopening campus.
