IIT KGP creates online forum to reach out to stranded foreign students at institute

    Kolkata, Apr 26 (PTI) The IIT Kharagpur has created an
online forum to help stranded foreign students at the
institute share their problems faced during the nationwide
lockdown imposed to contain the spread of novel coronavirus, a
spokesperson of the institute said on Sunday.
    The Office of International Relations (OIR) is
reaching out to the foreign students and is also sharing
academic information on the forum, he said.
    The institute is presently hosting students and post-
doctoral fellows from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Colombia, Ethiopia,
France, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Russia, South Korea, Sri
Lanka and Zimbabwe, the spokesperson said.
    The OIR is also helping the students get an extension
of their visas and is processing their scholarships so that
they don't face difficulties during the lockdown, he said.
    "Several foreign students are getting financial aid
under international programmes run by us and outreach bodies
of the Centre. We have ensured that they receive their
scholarships on time.
    "We have assured them that they have nothing to worry
and like other students of the institute, the IIT Kharagpur
campus is their home away from home," Associate Dean of
International Relations, Professor Anandaroop Bhattacharya
said.
    Tamim Boubou, studying MTech in Control System
Engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering, was
planning to go home to Syria during the summer recess.
    But he is now utilising his time attending online
video lectures.
    "The online video classes are interactive and
helpful," he said.
    The institute, through its official social media
handle, is also networking with its alumni to reach out to
current students, who got stranded in countries they had gone
to for academic activities, the spokesperson said.
    A few days back, a student who had gone to the US for
an internship, had tweeted seeking help from Indian
authorities after getting stranded there, he said.
    The student's friends from the IIT Kharagpur helped
her get connected to the IIT KGP Foundation, the alumni body
of the institute in the US, which is now helping her, the
spokesperson added. PTI SUS
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)