In a letter to Basu, the Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association said that in the first phase, final year students may be allowed to attend physical classes in different batches.
It also requested him to allow the resumption of research activities in the university. “We call for immediate COVID-19 vaccination for research scholars and students as an initial step to reopen the campus,” said JUTA general secretary Partha Pratim Roy.
Seeking to start physical classes for students whose studies have been affected for almost 18 months, the teachers body also urged the minister to allow on-campus inoculation camps for those who have not got the jab.
Roy said online teaching cannot be a substitute for physical classes, and laboratory-based subjects cannot be taught through virtual mode.
“You may be aware that the equipment in our university laboratories has been lying idle for a long time. Many are no longer working properly. If these high-value equipment is not used, it results in loss of lakhs of rupees, Which is an outright waste of public money,” the teacher’s body said in a letter to Basu.
Meanwhile, a section of JU students loyal to the SFI and other unions demonstrated in front of the university’s administrative building on Monday, demanding reopening of the campus and raising slogans against the authorities.
The Presidency University Students’ Union also submitted a memorandum to the authorities and demanded free vaccination on the campus.
Noting that immunization of students would help in resumption of activities on campus, the SFI-controlled students’ body said, “It has been 539 days since our campus was closed due to the outbreak of COVID-19.”
Alleging that the university authorities “have not made efforts to reopen the institute”, even though the second wave of Covid-19 has subsided, union president Mimosa Ghorai said the administration has to resume on-campus activities. To begin with, a committee should be formed to discuss and decide. .
The union urged the authorities to provide access to library services as students are facing problems without the facility.
The SFI also demonstrated in front of the main gate of the Presidency University demanding their demands.
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