The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has become the first major institute in the country to scrap face-to-face classes for the rest of the year in view of the COVID situation. In a long Facebook post, IIT Bombay Director Professor Subhasis Chaudhuri said the institute has taken the decision "after a long deliberation" keeping in mind students' safety.
"For IIT Bombay, students are the first priority... After a long deliberation in the Senate, we have decided today that the next semester will be run purely in the online mode so that there is no compromise on the safety and well being of the students," Chaudhuri said in the Facebook post last night.
The semester for undergraduate and postgraduate courses is scheduled to begin in July. This is the first time in the institute’s 62-year-old history that a new academic year will start with no students on campus.
Chaudhuri also used the opportunity to seek technical and financial assistance from well-wishers to help IIT Bombay students, especially from remote areas, to attend the online classes without any hurdles. "However, a large section of our students come from economically less privileged families and would require a helping hand to equip them with the IT hardware (i.e. laptops and broadband connectivity ) to take these online classes. We look forward to your overwhelming support to help these bright young minds to continue their learning without any further hindrances or delays. We do not want a single student to miss out the learning experience for the lack of money," he added.
The institute revealed that it would need about Rs 5 crore to help the needy students access classes online. "Our alumni have committed a good amount of support, but that is not enough for all these needy students and I solicit through this message your donations, however small it may be,” Chaudhuri wrote in his Facebook post.
Other IITs are also likely to follow the suit. However, no final decision has been taken yet.
