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Lockdown 2.0: Red, Orange and Green Zones

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The entire country will be segregated into red, orange, and green zones based on number of reported cases from each region. 

The countrywide lockdown has been extended till 3rd May. The Prime Minister in his address to the nation stated that the entire country will be divided into three zones: red, orange, and green. These zones will be formed based on number of the cases in that area. Areas with sizeable cases will be in the red zone. There will be little to no activity allowed in this zone. The status of orange zones will be given to those areas that reported positive cases in the past but saw no increase in the number of cases. Those districts where no coronavirus cases were reported will be categorized as the green zones.

Chief Ministers of multiple states proposed the opening of liquor shops as the revenue generated through them adds a considerable amount to the state revenue. In green zones, citizens will be permitted for limited movement across the zone itself. The limited movement will most likely put the green zones at risk of turning into orange zones. Many districts in Maharashtra reported cases with no travel history or close contact with anyone having a travel history. Yashvi, a student of Miranda House College opined: “The decision of categorizing regions into three different zones is going to be complex, and faulty implementation might lead to serious repercussions such as spreading of wrong information and a spike in new cases.”

India’s containment strategy is still being accurately mapped out. Hotspots or red zones will have strict travel restrictions. Many bureaucrats are apprehensive about the impacts the pandemic will have on the economy. According to the World Bank’s prediction, India will witness a growth of not more than 1.5 to 2.8 percent.

Feature Image Credits: DNA India

Suhani Malhotra

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Campus Central

The Stolen Sixth Semester: Woes of a Final-Year Student

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Read the words of our Editor-in-Chief for one last time, before she graduates, as she complains about her stolen sixth semester.

I remember last year, around this time, I was preparing for the farewell ceremony for my seniors at DU Beat- my phone would blow up with some 250 random messages on WhatsApp, endless calls discussing the venue, theme, gifts, and what not. At that time, I didn’t actually understand what the final semester meant to my seniors because I was too engrossed thinking about how life and work would be without them being around. But I also had the settling feeling that I would know when time comes.

Cut to 2020, the last semester of my college life as an undergraduate student, sitting at home, writing this article, and thinking about where my last semester went. I think of the stuff I would have been doing with my college friends and my team at this wonderful organisation.

However, I have always believed ‘expect the unexpected’ and I think that this is the only thing that is keeping me sane in such uncertain times. As kids, most of us might have experienced an unsettling feeling when somebody would snatch out a lollipop from our mouth. This is exactly what happened to our final semester.

Having said this, I would not talk only about the sad situation we are in. As a graduating student, a host of memories flash in front of me right now- the day I got admitted to the University of Delhi(DU), the day I met my college best friend, and the day I joined this organisation.

The three years of my college life have been the most challenging, yet the best years of my life. From being a student coming out of the protected cocoon of school life to graduating college with confidence and an identity, this is what these three years have made me. As college students, we are stuck with assignments, internals, submissions, deadlines, placements, societies, and endless preoccupations.

The nationwide lockdown gave me enough time to introspect and surprisingly, all that mattered to me during this difficult time were the people. I realised that my college life was not only defined by a degree or my friends, but also the security guard of my college who would wish ‘Good morning bacchon’ every morning, the canteen staff who would talk about their families, and the housekeeping staff of the college who would smile and wish me luck before every exam.

I wish I could get to relive all this one last time because I didn’t know that the chai I had on 6th March in my college canteen was the last cup I would have with my college friends while Ravi bhaiya (college canteen staff) talked about his Holi plans. You know something impacts you a great deal when you are unable to write about it without being cheesy and clichéd. It’s a faux-pas I’m willing to indulge in for the sake of honesty.

As much as I have talked about the final year students, I would also like to talk about the juniors. They are also the ones who hope to give their seniors the most memorable days of their college life. The end semester is also a reminder that they have become older, and are now themselves seniors. It’s a nostalgic time for the third-year students but what we often forget is how overwhelming it is for the juniors as well.

Dear Delhi University, the batch of 2020 will miss their last fest season, internals, college parties, night stays, bunks, submissions, and the last lectures and yes, they will miss you too- a place which gave them friendships, lessons, and lots of memories.

Feature Image Source: Anoushka Sharma for DU Beat

Anoushka Sharma

[email protected]

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Coronavirus

Editorial: Productivity and Pandemic: Decoding Online Learning

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In her last editorial of her tenure, our Print Editor talks about the socio-political and cultural connotations of expecting productivity in the midst of a Pandemic.

The University of Delhi (DU) is a revered dream for many, with its soaring cut- offs at the top ten colleges, promises of placements (mostly for commerce- based courses), and the affordability of its fee structure which allows undergraduate students to get a degree for as low as INR 50,000. Owing to the hullabaloo and cry over privatisation, one cannot say whether the last factor will sustain much further or not, but for now it is safe to estimate that this University is not home to selectively privileged youngsters.

Therefore, in unprecedented times like these with the Covid-19 Pandemic, DU’s 12th March Press Release, which insists upon maintaining the “continuity of the online teaching-learning process” is premised upon a sweeping generalization of social, economic, cultural, and political privilege.

With over 75 colleges, having an approximate total strength of nearly 1.5 lakh regular students, it is the infrastructure and physical access to the resources (libraries, notes, Internet, classes) available in respective DU colleges that is integral to the teaching-learning process for many students. The national lockdown due to the Pandemic has confined students, like all others, and many students have had to return to their respective homes.

The foundation of the belief that it is possible to continue an education process in the illusion of normalcy is the myth that the accessibility to resources is fair-play for all. Take for instance, the Kashmiri students in the University who have difficulty downloading byte-sized PDFs due to the restricted Internet access, and one would understand that video lectures on Zoom, Hangouts, and reading on JSTOR are synonymous with a utopian fancy in many students’ homes.

This is not to say that professors and peers in colleges are entirely ignorant of the aforementioned limitations, but there is significant pressure upon students nonetheless to go about internal assessments and coursework, as if it is an extended vacation.

To be fretting over grades and submission deadlines is not a privilege available to many whose mental health gets threatened in abusive or patriarchal households. Especially for women in India, many of whom choose DU because of its affordability and residential facilities that are liberating as compared to conservative, controlling families, being forced to stay in an inevitable lockdown can be a severe trigger for anxiety and, in some cases, trauma as well. There are urban and rural households alike which put a gendered burden of housework and chores like cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. upon the women in the family – a factor that is not only troubling in terms of its sexist and patriarchal strain, but also because it practically limits how much time women can devote to an education they fought to attain in DU.

In times like these when Instagram influencers and many others have taken the approach of selling the ideals of ‘productivity, evolution of self, finding yourself’ among other things, it is integral for teachers and administrators of an educational institution like DU to realise the exploitative and harmful burden an undeveloped, inaccessible system of ‘online teaching-learning’ puts on young minds. This needs to be considered before generalising and declaring that students can afford to be studying more, finishing course work properly, and working hard, from the apparent comfort of their homes.

In this last editorial for this paper, I thus urge the students, teachers, and administrators of this vividly diverse University to acknowledge unequal privileges, and be kinder.

Anushree Joshi

[email protected]

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DUB Speak

Coronavirus to Chinese Virus: A Racism Propaganda

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Medical officers, scientists, even the World Health Organisation (WHO) refers to the current pandemic as Coronavirus, but not some powerful world leaders, who have used this opportunity to stigmatize a particular disease. We still have not learnt anything from history, Have we?

 Amidst the world combatting the Coronavirus pandemic, the infamous part-time President, full-time “Twitterati” Donald Trump took to Twitter to address COVID-19 as “The Chinese Virus”. While in the same tweet he also said, that the United States of America would continue supporting the worst hit industries, like Airline and Travel Industry, where he completely ignored the dearth of funds the US healthcare system has been facing, the worst part still remains him nationalizing Coronavirus. 

 

Image Credits: Talk Radio Image Caption: The tweet where Trump addressed Coronavirus as Chinese Virus
Image Credits: Talk Radio
Image Caption: The tweet where Trump addressed Coronavirus as Chinese Virus

 

The US has been struggling to deal with the pandemic since Day 1, and Trump’s blame game has only jeopardized the situation more. Earlier, Trump blamed ex-President Barack Obama for the rise in number of cases in the States (Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?). Followed by Trump then blaming WHO, his own medical officers and ministers, and well now China. It is confirmed that the first case of Coronavirus was found in China, but does that make the virus Chinese? Trump’s own Secretary went on record to condemn Trump’s racist views as the virus is not propagated by any ethnicity or nationality, but Trump’s views do propagate Xenophobia.

While being asked to comment on his racist remarks of calling the virus Chinese, Trump refuted all accusations by saying, “The only reason I call the virus Chinese is because it originated from China. Whatever I said is not racist. Not racist at all.” Now, the question that persists is why the Coronavirus being called Chinese is extremely wrong?

There are two answers to that question, and both of which lie in power dynamics. Firstly, history has been the witness that whenever a disease or a pandemic has been stigmatized to particular ethnicity or nationality, it has led to catastrophic consequences. In the 14th Century, Jewish people were blamed for the outbreak of Black Death in Europe, and they were killed in great numbers. Again in 19th century Irish Catholic immigrants were blamed for spreading Cholera to the US, and thus were thrown in detention camps and faced mass killings. If you still don’t understand the relation of stigmatization of disease and its effect on people and national policy. In 1876, a group of Chinese people living in San Francisco became the scapegoat for smallpox outbreak which prompted the infamous Chinese Exclusion Act. 

While Trump may just be following the past narrative of naming diseases on the place of their origin, like Ebola, The Zika Virus, and more, what he doesn’t realize is that the world already has realized their mistake of stigmatizing diseases. Therefore, in 2015, WHO laid down the guidelines for naming a disease to avoid exactly what Trump is doing right now. Owing to the ideology that Trump preaches, the Asian-American, specially the Chinese-American community are facing tremendous violence, hate and daily racism. This phenomenon is also evident in India, where several harassment and racism cases have been reported against the North-Eastern citizens.

Secondly, calling the virus Chinese helps Trump to put the entire accountability of failure of the US health infrastructure on China. It also defers people from asking questions to Trump and his health policy, to hating China. Unfortunately, this has been proven true, with now the conspiracy debate around China using Coronavirus as a weapon being more surfaced than questions regarding the poor healthcare system, and how our politicians do not deem to invest in it but would spend all its budget on statues.

The Coronavirus sees no nationality, no ethnicity, no race, it just sees immediate health action plan. Whenever a disease has spread, shameful incidents of xenophobia and stigmatization have been written in history. Trump’s desperate efforts of playing the blame game, and nationalizing the suffrage of people, just shows the ideology of a capital-driven right-wing President.

 

Feature Image Credits: Bangalore Mirror

 

Chhavi Bahmba

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DUB Speak

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Caste System

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Amongst all the social reformers that India has had, Ambedkar was one of the most remarkable. For a country like India, where caste system is ingrained as such, the role of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar cannot be forgotten.

On 12th December 1935, Bhimrao Ambedkar was asked by the Hindu reformist group, Jat-Pat Todak Mandal (Society for the Abolition of Caste System), to address their annual conference. He had been asked to speak about the horrifying and detrimental effects that the caste system brought upon the country.
However, when Ambedkar sent in his address, it was denied by the group. It had been deemed “too controversial”, and no one wanted to risk offending the higher caste groups. When they asked him to delete any provoking comments, Ambedkar had adamantly replied that he “would not change even a comma”. A year later he published this speech as the essay, “Annihilation of Caste”, which was remarked as one of the most scathing reviews of the caste system.

Inarguably, the caste system is one of the most shameful concoctions to be birthed out of archaic Indian traditions. A repressive and inhumane ideology, the caste system was one of the social constructs that many Indian reformists tried to abolish, and the contribution of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar was one of the most stellar.

Dr B.R Ambedkar dedicated his entire life to the abolishment of caste, and his contributions towards dismantling the system are extremely notable. Born to a Mahar family, Bhim Rao was one of the few lower-caste children to attend school. Despite the discrimination, he became the first Dalit to be enrolled into the prestigious Elphinstone High School and won the Baroda State Scholarship for three years. He finished his postgraduate education from the Columbia University in New York, and for his thesis, he wrote about the castes in India- a paper that was presented at the Columbia University.

When Ambedkar returned to India in 1924, he launched a social reform movement against untouchability. He founded the Bahishkrut Hitkaraini Sabha, an organisation with the resolve of uprooting India’s caste system. He organised various marches for Dalit rights to basic human activities that were denied to them, like drinking water from public resources, or their right to enter religious houses. As a famous symbol of struggle against injustice, Ambedkar along with other protestors, walked into public tanks and reservoirs to drink from their waters. In late 1927, Ambedkar presented in a conference and publicly condemned the religious text of Manusmriti and its inhumane justification for caste discrimination and the notion of untouchability. He then led a march later that year where he and his fellow protestors burnt copies of his text as a token of opposition.

For the rest of his years, Ambedkar continued to fight against the archaic system. His most famous contribution is the construction of the Indian constitution under his guidance as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee. The Constitution of India, applauded as one of the most progressive documents of its time, abolished untouchability every form.

It has been over sixty years since Ambedkar’s reformations, and though caste still remains an evil that taints the society, it is only fair to recognise the immense struggle and development Dr B.R. Ambedkar contributed towards dismantling the caste system.
In 1936, Annihilation of Caste, Ambedkar had said, “Political tyranny is nothing compared to the social tyranny and a reformer who defies society is a more courageous man than a politician who defies Government.” The life of B.R. Ambedkar is that of a courageous and brave man working passionately to reform the Indian society and rid it of one of its worst evils. His legacy is one of great example and precedent which we cannot afford to forget.

Feature Image Credits: Britannica

Shreya Juyal

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Arts & Culture

Forgetting The Past: Neglection of Delhi’s Heritage Sites

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On the occasion of World Heritage Day, we take some time out to point the spotlight on lesser known monuments which are rapidly headed towards disintegration due to constant neglect.

Long queues neatly separated by steel railings. Constables stationed outside and inside the premises. A two digit price ticket for Indians and a three digit price ticket for foreigners. Tour guides who speak better English than you, seated in anticipation just after the air-conditioned ticket counter. Spick and span washrooms. Expensive audio guides. Well-manicured gardens. Informative placards stationed after every five metres. The Qutub Minar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is lavishly groomed as a tourist spot, and meticulously well preserved as a monument. One could almost call it “pampered”. And why shouldn’t it be? Having towered over the capital’s skyline for nine centuries, it is a reminder of the country’s architectural supremacy and the city’s rich cultural heritage, aweing every single person seeing it for the first time.

A couple of minutes’ walk from the Minar along a secluded, peaceful road dotted with some posh nightclubs, designer boutiques and leafy canopies suddenly opens up to the bustling cacophony of a messy mini metropolis, Mehrauli. On the Mehrauli roundabout, opposite a noisy bus depot, lies a domed structure, visible to every passer-by courtesy its huge size, but acknowledged by none, except for some adventure-seeking tourists. There are no constables, long queues, tickets or ticket counters, tour guides, manicured gardens and most importantly, tourists.

The monument itself is run-down. A few vagabonds sleep inside the circular corridor. Four children play cricket in the courtyard. Some tobacco and paan hawkers have set shop inside the premises. If you look closely at the dirt stained informative placard at the entrance, it reads “Adham Khan’s Tomb”. Locals refer to it as “Bhool Bhulaiya” and it is well known only as a landmark, helpful perhaps while giving directions to delivery boys, and certainly not as an important heritage site, in spite of being built by one of the greatest rulers of the subcontinent, Mughal emperor Akbar.

Despite being in close proximity to the Qutub Minar, the treatment that most of the monuments and heritage sites in the Mehrauli and Hauz Khas area receive is a far cry from the one received by the Minar. Some have it worse than Adham Khan’s Tomb. Rai Pithora, the once grand citadel of the Rajputs lies in shambles and some of its boundaries are even used as garbage dumps. Most of the Sultanate era baolis or stepwells reek with stinking green water and are a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

There are hundreds of historical sites peppered across the city, in Old Delhi, Zamrudpur, South Extension, North Delhi, Central Delhi, Tughlukabad, Palam to name a few. Many of them are recognized by the Archaeological Survey Of India, but still find themselves in miserable conditions. Some are not recognized and remain unidentified even by the locals. Apart from being uncared for, they also fall prey to two menacing issues – vandalism and encroachment.

“X was here”. “Y loves Z”. “Long live the X party”. Acknowledgements of romance and pledges of loyalty to political candidates scribbled on the walls or pillars greet the beleaguered tourist who visits the monument once in a blue moon. Besides this, climbing atop delicate structures as well as sticking advertisement posters on the monument’s walls also count among the rampant acts of vandalism undertaken by irresponsible citizens.

In areas like Mehrauli, Chandni Chowk and South Extension where heritage sites exist simultaneously with residential areas, encroachment into the monument premises is common. Homeless people use them as shelter. Children use them as playgrounds. Residents use them as garbage dumps. According to ASI rules, construction within 100 metres of a monument protected by ASI is prohibited. But it is hard to implement the rule in a populous city like Delhi where unauthorized constructions are prevalent. In fact in a recent report by ASI in response to a Right to Information (RTI) application, Delhi ranks first in the country in terms of monument encroachments with the number crossing 300.

One might attribute this to the domino effect. Once a person vandalises or encroaches, and is not reprimanded, others follow suit and soon the number rises. “Doing the same in heavily guarded and respected sites like the Humayun’s Tomb and Red Fort would be unthinkable for even the most desperate of vagabonds and mischief mongers. So why aren’t the rest of the sites as heavily guarded?”, said a professor of sociology at the University Of Delhi on the condition of anonymity, questioning the unequitable treatment of monuments by authorities. These issues would have been nipped in the bud had there been stricter measures and punishments against them when they started coming up initially. The goal now should be to limit any further damage and if possible, allot funds for the refurbishment of the damaged sites.

Why should lesser known heritage sites be refurbished if they don’t attract any footfall? Well the very reason these sites don’t attract people is because they aren’t refurbished. With nothing worthwhile to see, nothing worthwhile to read, nothing to transport them back to the past, there is no incentive for them to visit. Add to the fact that many decrepit monuments are located in secluded and unguarded areas, thus making them unattractive to potential tourists. And even if they do not attract as much tourists as other well-known monuments, they need to be well maintained and well preserved for the sake of historical and cultural integrity. India’s rich culture and heritage is what makes it so unique, admirable, respectable, and the neglect of historical sites sabotages this reputation.

Nevertheless, the ASI has done credible work in handling an extremely long list of heritage structures. In fact, even the meticulously handled affairs at well-known historical sites is something that they need to be lauded for. Non-governmental organizations like INTACH and the Aga Khan Trust have done well in complimenting the work done by the government and have helped fill up loopholes. As citizens, it is our duty to provide constructive criticism and awareness so that the ones who wield the power and authority to take action know that their job isn’t done yet.

Feature Image Credits: Panasonic 4K Imaging Club

Araba Kongbam

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Coronavirus

SFI Demands Student Financial Support during COVID-19

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The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) released a statement about the need for financial support for students facing problems during the COVID-19 pandemic and released a set of demands regarding the same.

In a statement dated for 17th April 2020, SFI released a press comment regarding the triangular problems being faced by students during the Coronavirus lockdown and urged the government to provide financial support for the same.

The SFI condemned the BJP-led government’s abrupt announcement of the lockdown without any prior notification for the students to prepare for the situation. They commented that though necessary, the statement for a lockdown came upon every citizen “like a bomb”, and though the lockdown is set for 3rd May, it is likely to extend further.

“The wage labourers and unorganised sector workers who live from hand to mouth are the ones who are facing the worst repercussions of the lockdown. But the brunt of the lockdown is felt by all sections of the population, and by all industries. While a huge portion of the Indian population is facing dire livelihood issues, with the unemployment rate touching a 1/4th of the population, it is futile to expect families to support their children in schools, colleges and universities. many families can’t afford it. If this is left unchecked, it could lead to a great increase in drop-out rates.

Many students are stranded in universities and college in various cities across the country in hostels. They are stranded not only because we were all told to remain where we were and not travel, but also because the lockdown announcement gave no time for students (or anyone) to make preparatory decisions. The government had demanded the students to remain as they are, thereby we demand the government to provide financial assistance to these students. Moreover, students are from disparate economic backgrounds and given the present economic condition, to expect their families to financially support these students is irresponsible”, as stated by SFI’s Delhi State Committee.

SFI has, as a result, released a set of demands for the government to help the students being affected by this pandemic. These include:

  • Provision of a minimum amount of sum to students’ bank accounts
  • Disbursing Fellowships/Scholarships and Grants for Bachelors to PhD
  • Waiving college fee of two months
  • No hostel fee to be charged during the lockdown
  • Government to pay the rent for students staying on rent
  • Necessary steps to be taken to ensure that students’ basic needs are met.

Feature Image Credits: The Sentinel

Shreya Juyal

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Admissions 2020

DU to Make Upcoming Admission Process Fully Online

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Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the University of Delhi (DU) admission process for the year 2020-21 is likely to go fully online.

In these tough times, one of the group which is suffering significantly is the present batch of 2021-2022. Considering the difficult situation and attempting to avoid any losses to them, the Delhi University is planning to make its entire admission process online for this year. Unlike, last time when students had to visit their respective colleges for document verification, this time they will rather be asked to upload the soft copies during the filling of forms, and get them verified later in July when the session commences.

The admission department also suggested of reducing the cut-offs but the final decision is yet to be declared. Shobha Bagai, the admission department head said, “Earlier, students had to go to college and get their original documents verified, but since we are in this situation we will ask them to upload their documents on the website.” However Rajesh Jha, executive council member expressing his disapproval towards the suggested process said, “Delhi University has a large number of colleges and courses. If students do a lot of reshuffling in the process of admission, then it will be cumbersome. Also, there are a large number who don’t have internet facilities.”

Harsh Malik, a student of Ahlcon International School, of the present batch said,” It would be really helpful if the process is made online. With everything happening we have already encountered enough academic strains and difficulties. Making the admission process online will make the application process easier or rather possible for everyone.” However, another student of the same school said,”It would be easier only for those students who have a stable internet connection at their homes, for all the others it would be unfair and would not ensure equal opportunity.” There is also a suggestion of creating help centres in colleges, for the aid of students facing an internet crisis and network issues, for better accessibility.

Feature Image Credits – Education After 12th

Kriti Gupta

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News

DUTA Suggests Series of Measures to be Undertaken Amidst Covid-19 Lockdown

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Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) in recent administrative feedback has released a series of suggestive measures for the Delhi University (DU) administration to consider while tackling the academic hurdles brought on by the global pandemic.

On 14th April 2020, DUTA released an administrative feedback to DU regarding the handling of the global pandemic situation of COVID-19. In the released statement, DUTA points out the faults in the university’s semester and examination schedule, pointing out how neither was well-equipped to handle a crisis as such, leading to a collapse in the teaching semester. “The pandemic has also exposed the failure of the semester system with its tight teaching-learning and examination schedule to be able to weather any crisis such as the present.”

DUTA pointed out the problems with the online classes and e-resources provided by the university and how lacking the method is and definitely not at a capacity to replace or make up for in-class lectures any time soon. Given our student demography, it is important to recognize that a large section of students come from outside Delhi and that an equally significant number comes from underprivileged backgrounds, and the environment at their homes is unlikely to be conducive for learning. The University and colleges have so far not been able to collect data on how many students have accessibility to the e-resources and lectures shared by teachers. Given the diverse population of students to whom the University of Delhi caters to and the student strength, the means and modes of assessment and examination adopted in the context of the lockdown should ensure that the solutions offered do not further marginalize the already marginalized sections of students or create a situation where large sections of students lose out due to the circumstances they face,” the feedback statement read. They also pointed out the fact that most students who had gone back home during the mid-semester break (which had included Holi) had not carried their textbooks and reading materials with them.

DUTA, therefore, concluded that online examinations for the university would not be viable options, owing to the lack of resources and inaccessibility to many students of the university.

DUTA has offered the following suggestions to the administration:

  • Examinations to be held only after teaching days lost during quarantine period are recovered, with priority being given to final year students. DUTA suggested readjusting the holidays for summer accordingly.
  • Final year students should be provided with provisional certificates with details of their SGPA and CGPA.
  • If opened in a phased manner, colleges should give priority to final year students with exams being held 15 days after re-opening.
  • Schedule of the new academic year be adjusted according to the course requirements of current batches.
  • Considering shifting the examinations of UG level courses to an annual mode, in order to properly equip the administration for a similar crisis in the future.
  • Universities should hold meetings of all statutory bodies in order to prepare for dealing with the situation. Students should be kept informed of all measures being taken, even if they’re temporary.

“In the case of the University of Delhi, which caters to lakhs of students, we firmly believe that attempts must be made to ensure that (i) students enrolled in regular programmes be taught and evaluated as per the laid down framework (ii) essential classroom teaching to SOL and NCWEB be completed as per the requirements and commitment of these programmes and (iii) conduct of online centralized examinations be ruled out completely as the University neither has the infrastructure nor the capability of providing/ensuring level playing field in terms of accessibility and ease to the diverse student population it caters to,” the feedback read.

Feature Image Credits: Niharika Dabral for DU Beat

Shreya Juyal

[email protected]

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Campus Central

Online Lectures: Boon Or Bane?

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Shutting down of educational institutions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic has necessitated the need for teachers to shift their lectures to the web.

“XYZ is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting” sliding into my mail whenever my professors wish to take a lecture is a notification that never fails to abruptly remind me of how much the world has changed and that I have been under quarantine, along with the whole country, for the past three weeks, something which I tend to forget from time to time having become so accustomed to it already, though in my defence, there is nothing very memorable about the quarantine or the “entity” that made it necessary, the coronavirus pandemic.

Infecting more than a million people across the world, and taking the lives of more than a hundred thousand, the coronavirus pandemic can be considered one of the most devastating and unfortunate events in human history. With lockdowns being announced, almost all corporate offices, private and public sector companies and educational institutions have been forced to pull down their shutters. 

Consequently, most official enterprises, be it meetings or seminars, have moved to online platforms, with teleconferencing applications like Skype and Zoom experiencing a swarm of new users. These new “migrants” also include university professors and school teachers, along with their students. 

While the idea of online teaching is not new, with many online educational platforms having been in existence for the past few years, the manner and the magnitude at which colleges and schools have unanimously adopted it recently is unprecedented. There are mainly two modes of transmission – sharing pre-recorded videos of the teacher with students or the teacher video-conferencing simultaneously with every student. The latter tends to get preferred over the former as it allows students to put forth their doubts there and then, along with the fact that the teacher can change the direction of teaching according to the prevailing line of thought going around his/her class.

Online teaching has its benefits. Since it allows the teacher and the student to be a part of the classroom from the comfort of their homes, it cuts the time and financial costs of house-to-school or house-to-college commute, as well as allowing sick students to attend their classes, which they otherwise wouldn’t have. “I was bedridden due to a minor surgery for a few days last week but I still didn’t miss any teaching as all my classes were being held online”, said a University Of Delhi student, on the condition of anonymity.

Commuting to one’s college or school everyday and staying there for 5-6 hours undoubtedly causes fatigue which hinders one’s attention during offline lectures, something which doesn’t happen in the case of online ones. 

“Zoom goes from conferencing app to the pandemic’s social network”, reads the headline of an article by Drake Bennett in the Bloomberg Business Week. The application is one of the biggest gainers of the sudden surge in online lectures, with downloads experiencing a boom from a mere 10 million to a whopping 200 million across devices. Being easy to operate and handle, it has even been patronized by the older not-so-tech-savvy generation of university professors.

But the problems of online lectures also start with Zoom. It has come under immense scrutiny for its relatively lax security systems, especially the absence of end-to-end encryption, which makes it prey to possible data theft. Since public zoom meetings can be accessed by merely opening the link for it, there have been numerous cases where hackers and mischief-mongers have hijacked meetings and lectures armed with offensive slogans, inappropriate images, abusive texts and racial slurs. “Zoombombing”, as this act is commonly known as, has forced many companies like Google and SpaceX to ban the usage of the application in its offices. Schools in Singapore and Taiwan have followed suit.

In fact, the application has been accused of spying on and recording personal user data, as well as tinkering with the in-built software of computers. Brian Feldman, in an article for the New York Magazine rubbished these claims and claimed that the problems were “sloppy rather than malicious”, though he sharply criticized the application, writing “..a billion dollar company seems to be held together with a duct tape and string.” Zoom’s CEO, Eric Yuan apologized for the glitches and attributed them to the company not having been prepared for such an enormous boom in its user base while also assuring implementation of stronger security measures in the coming weeks.

Besides Zoom’s complications, the most prominent drawback of an online lecture is the shunting out of students without internet access or electronic device access, especially in India where a large chunk of students come from rural backgrounds or poor families. This goes against the principles of government institutions which were established to provide equal education to all. 

Additionally, in case of some components of subjects composed of a considerable amount of quantitative analysis or those containing figures and graphs, say Economics or Physics, it gets a tad difficult to comprehensively  expound the learning matter through mere audio explanation or by writing on a notebook. Though this problem can be solved by the use of slideshow presentations. Ethically, there also tends to a lack of seriousness in the case of an online class when compared to an offline one since there is an absence of a disciplined classroom atmosphere. “I often end up browsing through my phone or laptop during lectures, or sometimes even worse, I turn off my video and leave to do something else.”, said a student of Daulat Ram College, on the condition of anonymity.

Nevertheless, the world was not prepared for these recent unfortunate developments, and adult office-goers and college students alike, and the Zoom application, despite its complications, have done a commendable job in keeping the show running partially. And with doctors and nurses across the world volunteering for the treatment of infected patients, medical experts and scientists working day and night for a cure or a vaccine, governments introducing strict movement restrictions and responsible citizens complying to these restrictions, one can hope that by the end of this year, professors and their students shall return to their classrooms.

 

 

Featured Image Credits : Anukriti Mudgil for DU Beat

Araba Kongbam

[email protected]

 

 

 

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