COVID-19: Convocation deferred, IIMA puts up photo of students

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) has deferred the annual convocation for the Class of 2020 to ensure “social distancing” in the time of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, it has placed photographs of its graduating batches in the plaza.

Annual convocation for the Class of 2020 for the graduating students of the PhD, MBA, MBA-FABM and MBA-PGPX programme was put off to ensure the safety of the students, their families and other staff.

A spokesperson for the institute told The Hindustan Times , “The decision has been taken to preclude any risks to students and their extended families and friends as well as to the faculty and employees of the institute.

The convocation was scheduled for March 21, 2020.

This decision was in line with the advisories issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the World Health Organization to avoid large public gatherings to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Instead, IIMA lit up its red-bricked Louis Kahn Plaza with the pictures of graduating students to congratulate them.

Source: Twitter

Since the eruption of COVID-19 many educational institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have either cancelled or deferred the annual convocations. This includes IIM Bangalore , IIM Indore, Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, Xavier School of Management (XLRI), among others.

The convocation dates have not been decided yet.

Many other institutes like the IITs have cancelled classes and moved them online .

India is under a preventive lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus through physical contact. People have been advised to follow social distancing and stay at home.

International commercial flights have been banned from landing on Indian soil from March 22 while domestic commercial flights will stop operation from March 23 mid-night. Curbs have been placed on rail and road transport.

Indian has seen a total of 415 confirmed cases so far with seven deaths.

Also read:

• Coronavirus: Oxford, Cambridge to do assessments online, says report
• Coronavirus: Universities in the US shift to online classrooms

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