Higher Education Institutions Are Ensuring Students’ Safety During COVID-19 Pandemic

Brijesh Shetty, a final semester student pursuing MBA-CEQS, was away at UAE in last week of February 2020. He was one of those lucky few whose employers covet their expertise so much that they wish their new hires to join their jobs early. Brijesh had not even savoured his new assignment fully when all hell broke with the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. The new recruit landed back in India on March 18, 2020, a day after the 14-day quarantine was made compulsory for all those coming from foreign travel. For Brijesh it was all extremely overwhelming, as he oscillated between extreme and emotionally exhausting situations. Help and support came from unexpected quarters when his institute and his professors reached out to him with all-round support and care. Today is Brijesh’s last day of quarantine and he and his college both are looking forward to him completing his course and re-joining his assignment.      

In the above real-life example, the college stood by its student during his distressing moments and became his backbone. Not really a normal occurrence for a college to do so for its student. But, in a matter of few weeks, COVID-19 has changed life as we normally know it. The whole country is in a lockdown to combat the spread of the deadly virus, severely impacting the society including businesses, transactions and education. The education sector is witnessing changes and adopting revolutionary ideas to keep the momentum going. 

Some educational institutes swiftly acted upon the changing situation and moved their community interactions online. Classes at school, graduation, post-graduation levels are now being conducted online. From classroom interactions, student-faculty interactions have moved to the virtual world. Access to technology and faculty determination is contributing to the success of this redefined classroom setting. 

Institutes which chose to go online to continue to impart education to students have been pragmatic in their approach and action. Online education will ensure that students are able to stick to their academic calendar without the undesired break.   

In the wake of the lockdown, some institutes have also made their admission process 100 per cent online. They have adopted a range of online and virtual methodologies to facilitate both the pre-, during and post-admission processes, to ensure all-round safety of prospective students, parents and their staff. For this, they have categorized various sub-processes of admission procedure to various courses and are implementing online solutions for each subprocess. 

Institutes are employing webinars for program knowledge sharing sessions, video calls for one-to-one interactions, virtual tours for campus tours. Only e-applications are being accepted from candidates desirous of applying for new batches followed by virtual interviews. All results will be announced online, and the fees payment and other admission formalities will also be completed online. 

The current situation requires institutions to consider and implement all possible solutions to ensure the safety of students, their parents and our staff.   

The pandemic has demonstrated that quick responses to disasters and quick adoption of alternate solutions in trying times are important for continuity and resilience. The pandemic is also an opportunity to remind ourselves of the skills students most need in this unpredictable world such as informed decision making, creative problem solving, and perhaps above all, adaptability. To ensure those skills remain a priority for all students, resilience and adaption must be built into our educational systems as well.

Ashwani Awasthi

Guest Author The author is Managing Director - South Asia, RICS School of Built Environment