City’s colleges are extra cautious after reopening | Nagpur News – Times of India

Nagpur: While some colleges received an enthusiastic response from students after reopening on Monday, there are others who are still mulling whether to go ahead or not after a gap of more than 10 months due to the Covid19 pandemic.
Ninad Gahane, a 2nd year BA student of Hislop College, felt comfortable attending classes for the first time since shifting to online mode. “The experience of being physically present for classes was sublime. It felt as if I was back to reality from an unsustainable ‘virtuality’. All the Covid norms were followed. Though there were few students on day one, the number increased a bit on day two and should be much better as the days go by,” he said.
Navneet Waghmare, a 2nd year BCCA student from Tirpude College, said, “Shifting from online to offline classes was indeed a relief to many students as we could understand the concepts better and we will be able to do all the practicals in the lab.
He added that his college is following all the Covid protocols like social distancing, use of masks and sanitizer, etc. “Everything is on track for the safety of students, and I hope this discipline will be there for a long time,” he added.
With a spike in Covid-19 cases in the district, head of the department of mass communication, Nagpur University, Moiz Haque, said that students are being urged to attend online lectures. “There is a lot of enthusiasm among students as well as teachers to have classes physically. We had a good attendance over the past few days through the 50% arrangement. However, considering the worsening of the Covid19 situation, we are encouraging online classes in the coming days. We are putting safety first,” he said.
Director of Tirpude Institute of Management Lalit Khullar said that students have the option to attend classes in online, offline, or both modes. On reopening of offline classes, he said, “Students were missing college, teachers and the overall environment. The response to physical classes has been good. 50% of the strength marked their presence.”
“In the last 10 months, students have become cautious and are aware of the safety norms they’re supposed to follow. They’re wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing while hanging out with their friends,” he said.
Chief administrative officer at LAD College Harsha Jharia said, “We are continuing to plan timetables. We are not forcing students to attend offline classes. Theory can be taught online but we are concerned about practicals. So we will call students who have practical-oriented subjects.”
Principal of Dr Ambedkar Law College Shrikant Komawar said, “Our college will reopen on February 22 only for final year students who have practical subjects. We have given them the option of choosing between online and offline mode of classes.”