The director of IIT Bombay also appealed in his post.
Mumbai / New Delhi:
In the midst of a spike in coronavirus cases across the country, the Bombay Indian Institute of Technology has become the first major institute to cut all face-to-face conferences for the rest of the year “so that it there is no compromise on student safety and well-being. ” Last night, in a Facebook article, the director of IIT Bombay, Professor Subhasis Chaudhuri, said the decision had been made “after long deliberations”.
“For IIT Bombay, students are the first priority. We have taken the first step in India to decide concretely how we should end the current semester to help our students,” wrote Professor Subhasis Chaudhuri in the post.
“But given the current state of the pandemic, how do we plan for the next semester for our students? Again, after long deliberation in the Senate, we decided today that the next semester would only be in online mode so that there is no compromise on student safety and well-being, “he added.
The undergraduate and graduate semesters are scheduled to start in July. The post also launched a call for donations for students “from economically disadvantaged families”.
“A large part of our students come from economically less privileged families and would need a helping hand to equip them with computer equipment (ie laptops and broadband connectivity) to follow these online course, “says the post.
“We have estimated that we need about 5 crores of Rs to help these needy students. We look forward to your overwhelming support to help these bright young minds continue their learning without further obstacles or delays,” wrote M Chaudhuri, by appealing for donations.
Across India, the coronavirus count has crossed 4.56 lakh cases. With 1.39 lakh cases, Maharashtra is the most affected and Mumbai alone has recorded nearly 70,000 cases to date.
Earlier this week, Ministry of Education sources told GalacticGaming that exams and competitions are unlikely to be held in July for engineering and medical colleges. The Supreme Court will hear the case today.
