SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Feb 7: Colleges in the state opened on Monday after a one-month sabbatical as per Covid guidelines released by the Jharkhand government. Several colleges including Gossner College, Doranda College, Marwari College and Ranchi College saw students excited to attend classes after such a long wait. However, several colleges also reported around 50 percent attendance on the first day in different departments.
Prof Mahima Golden Bilung, Mass Communication and Video Production department of Gossner College said, ‘Several departments here saw a limited number of students present today. More than 50 pc attendance was registered here today. We are making sure to follow all guidelines issued by the state.’
Regarding exams for semesters 2 and 4, Prof Bilung said, “As per the guidelines released by Ranchi University, exams may be conducted in an offline mode soon. Officials from RU had already granted permission for filling up forms for the said exams.”
Dr Manoj Kumar, Principal, Marwari colleges said, ‘The first day saw a 50 percent attendance of students today. We have sanitized the whole college, as per the guidelines of the state, and classes will be conducted as per the normal routine.” Regarding examinations he said, “Notices had been given prior to opening the college, that Under Graduate semester 5 and Post Graduate semester 3 exams will be conducted from February 17, as mentioned in out academic calendar.”
Prof Janet Andrew Shah, Department of English at Nirmala College said, ‘The college opened right after the announcement from the government. Classes began on February 2 itself. The attendance was sparse in the beginning but is now close to 60 percent.’
She further added, ‘We had asked students that have not been administered both the doses of the vaccine to not attend the classes physically as they will be a danger to themselves as well as others. However, we are also organizing online classes for such students.’
“We have been taking regular internal exams for students as per the directions of the principal and the department heads. Even though we have not yet received any notices from Ranchi University, we want to keep our students prepared for exams,” she added about semester exams.
Ranchi University exam controller Ashish Kumar Jha could not be reached when Lagatar24.Com correspondent tried asking about future plans for conducting semester exams in colleges.
Notably, the Jharkhand government had decided to shut all educational institutions in the state on January 3 and announced COVID-19 curbs to minimise and control the spread of infection. Jharkhand had then witnessed a sharp spike in coronavirus cases following which the school closure and other fresh rules were announced.