With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the state, the student protests by the students of Lucknow University are also increasing. This is followed by the increasing trends on social media sites for postponing the offline examinations that the university has decided to conduct. This has been continuing since Tuesday and thousands of students are reportedly supporting it.
The primary demand of the students is against holding the semester examinations in the offline mode. They have questions over the responsibility in case a student gets infected while appearing for the offline examinations. Moreover, in case a student or their family member is already infected, they will face problems in appearing for the offline exams. Hence, their demand is to either postpone the offline examinations or conduct the same in the online mode.
As per the university spokesperson, the guidelines issued by the government are being followed. To ensure safety, sanitation tunnels have been installed at the examination centers. Other than that, the person assured that the government guidelines will be followed. Nevertheless, the students have started protesting since Monday.
Reports suggest that three students of Lucknow University have already been infected with COVID-19. Soon after that, the students gathered outside the administrative building of the University to protest against offline examinations. According to the protestors, the lives of the students are more important than the examinations. The students also reached the examination center where the exams were supposed to be held from 2 PM. Allegedly, they locked the gates and sat for dharna. Due to this development, the authorities had to call in external help.
Similarly, due to the online protests by the students of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) for canceling the offline examinations, the university officials said that they will be conducting the practical examinations in the online mode from January 14 to 23, 2022. However, the students seem to be upset about it as the theory exams will continue to be conducted in offline mode.
In Prayagraj, two colleges that are affiliated with Allahabad University have postponed their admission process until further notice. As per the information released by Dr. Anand Shankar Singh, the principal of Ishwar Sharan Degree College, the admission process for the Master’s degrees that were supposed to start from today has been postponed. However, regular classes will continue in the online mode. On the other hand, as per Dr. Brijesh Kumar, principal of CMP Degree College, the admission process of all undergraduate courses has been postponed till further orders.