IIT Bombay becomes first major institute to scrap classroom lectures amid COVID-19 pandemic, next semester to begin in online mode

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay or IIT Bombay has become the first major institute to do away with all face-to-face lectures for the rest of the year amid a spike in COVID-19 cases across the country. Director Subhasis Chaudhuri, in a Facebook post informed that IIT Bombay would be teaching the next semester “purely in the online mode so that there is no compromise on the safety and well being of the students.” [caption id=“attachment_8524531” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] He further elaborated that the COVID-19 pandemic has made IIT Bombay rethink the way they impart education to students. “To ensure that our students begin the academic year without further delay, we are planning on extensive online classes details of which will be informed to all students in due course of time,” he wrote. In the post the director also appealed for donations to help bridge digital divide for a large section of students who come from economically weak families. “We do not want a single student to miss out the learning experience for the lack of money. We have estimated that we need about Rs 5 crores to help those needy students. Our alumni have committed a good amount of support, but that is not enough for all these needy students and I solicit through this message your donations, however small it may be,” Chaudhuri wrote. According to a report in The Indian Express, this is the first time in the institute’s history of over 60 years that a new academic calendar will commence with no students physically present on the campus. IIT Bombay had recently revised the admission process of M.Des (Master of Design) for the academic year 2020-21 due to COVID 19 pandemic. According to revised admission process, IIT Bombay will conduct an online evaluation in the form of portfolio submission and online interviews. The online interviews have been scheduled from 21 to 26 July. There has been an alarming rise in the cases of COVID-19 in India. The country has so far registered over 14,500 deaths from the virus. Over 4,73,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus. The state of Maharashtra has been one of the worst affected with a total of 1,42,900 cases and close to seven thousand deaths from COVID-19.