As we inch towards 50,000 signatures, I’d like to point out that the issue we’ve raised has never been confined to Delhi University. All over the country, students are calling out the very arbitrary decision by their university administrations of resuming offline classes. This includes KIIT, Mumbai University, Bennett, and many others.
Till date, no university administration has explained the logic behind resuming offline classes in the middle of a semester. Why not announce the resumption of offline classes from next semester, just after students give their end-semester exams? It could have given students 1-2 months to plan the shift to their university campuses, and sort out their lodging, food, transport and other arrangements.
A writ petition was filed in the Delhi High Court regarding the demand for a hybrid mode of education in DU by outstation students.
The matter was heard today. Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde argued that DU’s hostels aren’t prepared to house outstation students as yet, since they’ve been out of use for nearly two years and need some repair work.
He added that these students are the future of India. The Advocate argued that the petition is not “adversarial” meaning DU shouldn’t treat this petition as a “fight against DU”.
The Counsel for DU, on the other hand, talked about the need for postgraduate students to attend offline classes and talked about some other technical reasons as to why students need to start coming to campus for classes. He argued that the Court cannot issue a mandamus (an order) to DU on this matter.
The Court reiterated that it won’t interfere in any examination - theory or practical.
However the Court once again asked the DU counsel to explore a possible relaxation for students who don’t want to attend offline classes as yet for various reasons.
The Counsel for DU sought more time for instructions (talking to DU). The next hearing is scheduled on 2 Mar 2022.
To everyone who’s signed, keep up the momentum and let’s fight the good fight till we can. Keep sharing this petition on social media. Change.org/DUGoHybrid