Amid spike in coronavirus cases across the country, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has decided to scrap all face-to-face lectures for the next semester, becoming the first major educational institution to take such decision.
In a Facebook Post Wednesday night, IIT Bombay Director Subhasis Chaudhuri said, “the next semester will be run purely in the online mode so that there is no compromise on the safety and well being of the students.”
“For IIT Bombay, students are the first priority. We took the first step in India in concretely deciding how we must bring a closure to the current semester to help our students. But given the current condition of the pandemic, how do we plan for the next semester for our students? Again, after a long deliberation in the Senate, we have decided today that the next semester will be run purely in the online mode so that there is no compromise on the safety and well being of the students,” Chaudhuri wrote in the post.
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He also made an appeal for donations for students who come from economically weaker families.
“To ensure that our students begin the academic year without further delay, we are planning on extensive online classes details of which will be informed to all students in due course of time. However, a large section of our students come from economically less privileged families and would require a helping hand to equip them with the IT hardware (i.e. laptops and broadband connectivity) to take these online classes. We look forward to your overwhelming support to help these bright young minds to continue their learning without any further hindrances or delays,” he wrote.
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The coronavirus tally in India has crossed 4.73 lakh mark. With 1.42 lakh cases, Maharashtra is the worst-hit state in India and Mumbai alone has registered nearly 70,000 cases.
