Information from teachers regarding online teaching-learning
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Professor Yogesh Tyagi
Vice Chancellor
University of Delhi
Delhi 110007
2.4.2020
Sub: Information from teachers regarding online teaching-learning
Dear Prof. Tyagi,
It has come to our notice that the University has asked Colleges and Departments to furnish information pertaining to online education for students during the period of the closure of the University due to the lockdown. Principals of colleges have also asked teachers to provide such information, in many cases through threats and coercive methods. Further, the format in which this information is being sought is questionable and raises doubts about the purpose and use to which this information might be put. This callousness in dealing with such an extreme situation in which we all find ourselves is unwarranted and speaks of the utter disregard for the wellbeing of teachers and students and must end forthwith.
In these difficult times, when the pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world, we as teachers realize the need to be responsible for the wellbeing of our students, our families, colleagues. The sudden changes brought about by the temporary closure first and then the lockdown has thrown the academic schedule and our routine out of gear. As teachers, we are also grappling with ways to keep our students engaged in such times of isolation and provide them whatever support we can to enable them to overcome the physical and mental effects of this situation.
In response to the University’s call to teachers to provide e-resources to students, all teachers have responded by finding ways of doing so. Teachers are experimenting with new modes of teaching and have tried to reach out to students through various platforms. Some of us who are engaging with these platforms are doing so for the first time and only a few colleges have been able to provide more systematic sharing possibilities whereas others have not been able to do so for a variety of reasons.
However, we firmly believe that there can be no substitute for classroom teaching, especially practical work, and it is for this reason that the DUTA had requested you to extend the semester. Even as the MHRD, UGC and other bodies may believe that minimal disruption would be caused if teachers switched to online methods, it would be extremely thoughtless on their part to believe that students in different parts of the country would all easily and freely have access to Internet facilities. Moreover, these online methods can at best be a temporary measure to keep in touch with students as there is no substitute for face-to-face classes.
That such information was being sought at such short notice and the subsequent threats and fiats issued to teachers bespeaks of a myopic vision. Instead of enabling all sections of the university community to cope with this situation and reposing trust on them, the University has chosen to act insensitively. When people are under tremendous stress because of uncertainties which they may be facing personally and which we face collectively, it is important to repose trust on teachers and not target them under the garb of accountability. The University ought to communicate to the MHRD and the UGC the limitations of such virtual methods of online education, especially in a university as large as ours and with a varied student composition and must insist that alternate ways be found to recover the lost time once the lockdown is lifted.
We all are living through times of a serious crisis and we hope you will respond adequately to keep up the morale of colleagues and students.
With regards,
| Rajib Ray President, DUTA Rajinder Singh Secretary, DUTA |
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