Resuming in-person classes at universities: The joy, the caution and the recovery 

Recently, the government and the university authorities have decided to reopen the universities from October. Among the public universities, the University of Dhaka was the first to resume in-person classes from 15 October. The central library at Dhaka University opened on 25 September and the halls also began allowing students to come back from 5 October.

Among other public universities, Chittagong University will reopen its residential halls from 18 October and RUET dormitories will be opened from 28 October. 

Finally, after remaining closed for over 18 months, it seems like we will get to hear the students' gleeful laughter echo through the walls of our campuses. I guess the students will also be overjoyed at the prospect of attending in-person classes and meeting their friends after a rather long hiatus.

Although I do not want to be a buzzkill, there are some necessary precautions to be taken. 

To begin with, it is the responsibility of the government to vaccinate each and every student before they begin attending in-person classes. Once the classes resume, the university administration is responsible for ensuring that the students, as well as the teachers, follow the health safety guidelines. 

To ensure a planned and smooth transition from online to in-person classes, a few issues must be addressed.

Firstly, let us talk about vaccination. 

As of this moment, all students from public universities have not been fully vaccinated yet. We must be able to distinguish the fully vaccinated students (those who had taken two jabs of vaccines) from those who are either partially vaccinated, ie, have taken only one dose, and those who have not yet received a single dose of vaccine. 

Fortunately, Dhaka University has a site where students can register themselves by using their university e-mail identity and report their latest vaccination status. For example, in the Department of Economics, we do not know the vaccination status of 128 students out of 800. 

Apart from the practical utility, there are some crucial aspects to online education that can be conducive to better learning for our students. For example, the Dhaka University administration is seriously considering collaboration with Ivy League universities like Harvard. 

The department staff are now trying to trace them to know about their latest whereabouts. I think there should be careful monitoring of all such students in every department in the university. 

Fortunately, the Dhaka University ICT office has a good database to monitor them and if all departments cooperate in time, then it will not be a big problem. Subsequently, emergency vaccination of at least one dose should be made available to all unvaccinated students as has been recently promised by the university authority.

Since a large number of the students remain unvaccinated, the university administrations should take it upon their hands to bring in the additional vaccine doses (if necessary) and inoculate the students in their health centres. 

The Academic Council at the University of Dhaka decided to set up health camps for the students in suitable places on the campus. It is being said that the unvaccinated students will be able to get their vaccines from these camps. 

To distinguish vaccinated students from the unvaccinated ones, students will have to carry their vaccine certificates to attend classes, enter libraries and attend other public activities. 

We also cannot allow all the students to come in immediately all at a time. Initially, we may prioritise honours and masters final year students so that they can complete their tertiary education and graduate as soon as possible.

Based on the success of these stages, we can slowly allow students from the first, second and third years to attend in-person classes as well. If everything goes well, the process should be completed by the end of this year.

But we should keep in mind that if even a single student is put in harm's way because of in-person classes, it may cause panic and create chaos. 

The successful implementation of this broadly accepted plan for 'loss recovery' will partly depend upon the ability and sincerity of the faculties, hall administration and the central authority of the university. They should be able to persuade the general students to abide by the rules. 

There is also a chance for the authorities now to stop once and for all the so-called 'Gono Room' tradition in the halls where the new first-year students come to stay together in a crowded manner and live under the thumb of their so-called 'big brothers.' 

Thus everything will depend, regarding the aforementioned issue, on the ability of the hall authority to enforce the rules neutrally without any fear and favour. The state should also ensure the autonomy of the university authority to enforce its own rules without any bias to partisan political interest. 

How do we deal with learning loss?

When the pandemic hit back in March 2020, we went into lockdown and for quite a few months, we did not adopt the online mode of education. Even when we did, the syllabus was shortened in many cases as certain topics and laboratory works could not be taught properly online. 

Hence, the exams in the coming months will be taken on a shorter, limited syllabus and the 12 months classes may be compressed and covered within 9 months. Even then, three years will be needed to cover the total time lost. 

As a result, the students may also suffer from a loss in learning. These limitations must be adjusted as much as possible in the coming years. 

Much will depend on us, ie, our teachers' sincerity and extra effort. For instance, topics that the first-year students could not learn should be included in the syllabus for their second year, and so on. 

Teachers also have a responsibility to make sure that students put extra effort too so that there are no shortcomings in the students' learning process and they graduate with a complete understanding of their major. We all should get ready for a 'double march.'

Currently, the Covid-19 infection rate as well as fatality rate remains relatively low and under control. However, if the Covid-19 infection rate rises again, the university administration should remain prepared to immediately begin the transition to online classes and examinations. 

When the pandemic first hit, we wasted a lot of valuable time in limbo, which forced a lot of students to drop out while many others fell victim to mental health issues. This time, we should be prepared to face such adverse circumstances with a switching mechanism where we seamlessly transit from online to in-person classes and vice-versa. 

If possible, at least 10 percent of classes should be taken online regardless of the Covid-19 situation. 

Apart from the practical utility, there are some crucial aspects to online education that can be conducive to better learning for our students. For example, the Dhaka University administration is seriously considering collaboration with Ivy League universities like Harvard. 

If successful, Dhaka University students will be able to attend the classes of Harvard professors at the convenience of their homes. At least we can invite our alumni scholars working on those top-ranking foreign institutions to meet our students in the Google classrooms and share their up-to-date knowledge with them.

Another important aspect that needs to be addressed is the natural environment of the university. When the universities had remained closed during the span of the pandemic, interestingly the flora and fauna in the Dhaka University campuses flourished. 

A number of avian species, as well as other animals, were roaming around freely which made the natural habitat of the 100-year-old campus more green, fresh and lively! Those of us who had lived inside the campus during the pandemic had enjoyed that quiet isolation very well.

So, when the students come back to the campus and the roadblocks are removed we must make sure that the positive changes in the environment of the campus are not tarnished through irresponsible and careless actions by the students and others coming to visit the campus.

All of that being said, it is truly a great pleasure to welcome all the students back to their respective campuses. We are eagerly waiting to greet you all in the classrooms. Until then, do remember to vaccinate yourselves and get ready for a double march. 

TBS Sketch of M M Akash

The author is the Chairman of the Department of Economics at the University of Dhaka