Kerala colleges reopen after a gap of over a year

NEW DELHI: Colleges and other higher education institutions in Kerala welcomed students to campuses after a gap of one-and-a-half years on Monday.

Classes for the final year degree and postgraduate students began today while rest of the classes are slated to begin from October 18. Strictly adhering to COVID-19 health protocol, students were checked for their temperature and given hand sanitisers at the entrance of the colleges. Authorities ensured that students who reached colleges had received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, a PTI report said.

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Higher education minister visits Govt. College

Higher education minister R Bindu visited the Government College for Women at Vazhuthacaud in Thiruvananthapuram to interact with students. "We have sanitised all the classrooms with the help of voluntary organisations and student and youth organisations," she told the media.

Colleges with small classrooms will have classes into two batches. Though the physical classes have resumed, online classes will also continue for the students.

The minister said the government will arrange counselling for students in colleges to create awareness about gender justice and equality. "When a girl says 'No', one must have the mental maturity to accept it. Our boys must be able to attain that level of mental maturity," said Bindu referring to the recent murder of a 21-year-old girl by her estranged boyfriend at Pala.

Universities busy in scheduling pending exams

University authorities are neck deep in scheduling the pending examinations. No matter the backlog of examinations, the students are happy to be back on the campus. "The classes are on and we are back in action. But, there are long pending exams. It will be an examination spree from this month end as we need to finish the third, fourth and fifth semester examination before commencing the sixth semester classes," said Sheeba Andrews, vice principal of Providence Women's College, Kozhikode told PTI.

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Students thrilled to meet classmates finally

Alka, a fifth semester BA psychology student of the college, said she and her friends were thrilled and excited to meet each other again in the college. The offline classes in St Josephs’ college, Devagiri, at Kozhikode will resume only tomorrow as an examination, which was earlier postponed, was held in the campus on Monday. The final year degree students of the college are anxiously awaiting their junior batches, who will make it to the college from October 18. "We have not met our juniors. The mask and COVID protocols will limit the scope of interactions. However, we are thrilled to get back to our campus," Harsha and Parvathy, fifth semester B Com students of the college, said. A few were of the opinion that the reopening of colleges would be a testing time for them as they used to enjoy the freedom of attending online classes in a relaxed mood at home.

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