#ReopenColleges: Jamia students join in pleas to resume physical classes
Citing lack of academic resources, students of Jamia Millia Islamia call for reopening of college campus
The campus can reopen now as the situation is almost under control. With regulations and facilities we can attend classes. NISHAT NAAZ, Student of Bachelor of Fine Arts at JMI
It’s not only students of varsities such as Delhi University (DU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), who are itching to return to campus. And as their pleas get heard with phased reopening of DU, students of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) have also begun voicing concerns, and calling for physical classes to resume.
“Even movie theatres, malls, and markets have reopened. So why can’t our college reopen,” questions Nishat Naaz, who is pursuing Bachelor of Fine Arts at Jamia, and adds: “With proper regulations and facilities we can attend classes without sacrificing more time.”
Awaiting an update on their demands, Sangya Dubey, a PhD student says a campus not only provides a space for learning but also important resources. “The inaccessibility to a library 24X7 has hampered the progress of my thesis! I can only get eight books issued at one go, and it gets difficult to establish the flow of my arguments,” shares Dubey, adding that studying in one’s home town hampers the rhythm of study and output.
Echoing similar thoughts,
Azim Javed, a fourth year BTech student feels it was “evident” that online classes were not going to work out right from the start. “Apart from learning, there’s also an on-campus experience that is necessary for a student’s development; a digital monitor can’t replace this.”
Zeeshan Ahmed, a first-year student of MA in Convergent Journalism, shares that the on campus practical classes which resumed mid-September made him realise the need for such lectures. “I’ve learned much more in two weeks of practical classes than what we were taught online,” he adds.
I’ve been able to partially return to campus, and it’s a completely different experience to be studying in a classroom. ZEESHAN AHMED, Firstyear student of MA in Convergent Journalism at JMI