The Government of Karnataka, via its latest notification, has allowed all engineering colleges in the state to function by adhering to strict COVID-19 protocols. As a result, the colleges and institutes that are affiliated with the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) have been permitted to function. With the announcement of this order, the student community has come up with mixed reactions. Candidates can take a look at the official notification attached below.
While some fear the rising COVID-19 cases, others now seem to worry as most of them have left for their hometown. Students have claimed that the administration should have made this announcement sometime earlier. Moreover, the problem becomes worse for the students within the state as the number of public transport has reduced significantly. Hence, commuters will be facing difficulties. Additionally, most of the international students have already left for their countries.
Students from other states have already vacated their PGs and guest houses since the COVID-19 cases saw a sudden increase. They have commented that it will now be difficult for them to return and attend offline classes since most of them have already reached their hometowns. As understood from the comments on Twitter, the administration has announced that the classes will be held in online mode but now there has been a sudden change in the decision. This has started creating confusion among the students.
The VTU students have taken to Twitter and said that as per the instructions by the government, the degree colleges have been asked to remain shut for 14 days and must continue with the online classes. However, there is an exception for classes 10, 12, and students pursuing a degree course in medicine. At a time when this order was already imposed, this sudden change of decision has outraged the students. Although there is no such claim of revoking the decision, the students have mostly voiced their concerns and the problems they would face during the on-campus classes.
Furthermore, it is reported that there is a lot of confusion among the authorities regarding what kind of protocols should be followed on the campus. As understood from the tweets, Bengaluru was the main center from where the COVID-19 cases started to increase. Moreover, there is also a chance that the same might be the case again. Each class has roughly 60 students and following the protocols inside is like a distant dream. In addition to that, if anyone gets infected with COVID-19, then there could be serious problems. In case there is full attendance, then there are high chances that the students will get infected.
