Covid on campus: IIT-Hyderabad students ask for online classes

So far, six persons, including two faculty members, tested positive in the last 10 days and three more cases were confirmed on Thursday.

Hyderabad: With several students and faculty of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Hyderabad testing positive for Covid-19, there is a growing demand from the institute’s student community to switch over to online classes from offline mode.

So far, six persons, including two faculty members, tested positive in the last 10 days, three of them on Thursday. While one faculty member resides outside the campus, the rest stay on the campus.

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Though there were confirmed cases of Covid-19, according to students, the IIT-Hyderabad management was insisting on continuing offline classes putting students and faculty members at risk.

A student who wished anonymity said the management was not paying any heed to the health and safety of faculty and students.

In a message to faculty and students, IIT-Hyderabad Director Prof. BS Murty said the solution to the issue was not shifting to online, but minimizing the contact in an offline mode and suggested that classrooms should not be occupied by more than 50 per cent of students.

“If you have a large student strength in your course, please divide the class strength into groups and each group will attend the class on a particular day and the rest will either attend the class online from their rooms, if you can teach in a hybrid mode. If you cannot teach in hybrid mode, you continue to have only one group attending the class on any particular date, but ensure that the other students get the video, class note, etc., of that class. This way, you provide the advantage to a group of students in every class to attend offline class,” he said, and asked students and staff to wear masks and maintain social distance.

Apart from online classes, students wanted the management to start Rapid Antigen Tests for all students and faculty on the campus besides thermal screening of students in the mess facility and also at the gates of hostels.

In an advisory, the IIT-Hyderabad has asked the faculty, staff, students, and residents on the campus to self-monitor their health and report any illness such as fever, dry cough, headache, sore throat, diarrhoea, loss of taste or smell at the earliest to the Institute Clinic/Government Hospital for advice.

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