Universities Shift to Online Education Due to Covid-19 Epidemic

The Coronavirus outbreak has upended the functioning of a world as we knew it. India has over 1 million cases now. This has adversely impacted the Education system on one hand and has opened new vistas on the other. The period from March to June used to be a time of making applications, convocation ceremonies, taking exams and preparing for a new session, but with social distancing in practice as an essential precaution, classes are not being held face to face but online. India is advancing in the field of online education at a rapid rate as highlighted by an India Today article, that according to a report titled 'Online Education in India: 2021' by KPMG India and Google, the Indian online education is set to grow eight times in the coming three years.

This could be seen as a good start as all major universities are participating in providing online classes with a new name to it- 'Education 4.0' is now used to address online classes. Classes are now being conducted through apps like Zoom, Dhoot, Microsoft Teams, Hangouts, Google Classroom, Cisco WebexMeeting, YouTube, SWAYAM online platform and SWAYAMPRABHA etc.

Here we have a list of five universities which have instantly shifted to online mode of education since the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown 2020.

IIT Bombay

One of the finest technical institutes in the country, IIT Bombay is a public technical institute which was set up in 1958 with funds from the UNESCO and it was termed as amongst the 'Institutes of National Importance' by the Parliament. It offers more than 60 UG, PG and Research programs in Technology, Engineering, Management and Social Sciences. Well known for its innovation and research achievements, IIT Bombay has been ranked 1st in India by the QS World Rankings in 2020. IIT Bombay-Washington University Executive MBA is one of the most popular joint programs offered for a period of 1.5 years for which applications can be made online.

IIT Bombay is taking online classes from 16 March 2020. It has cancelled most of its Summer Courses except a few which are available in self-study and online mode from 1 April 2020- 31 May 2020 according to the official website. IIT Bombay has created a training page for teachers titled EdTech to help teachers maneuver online tools.

University of Delhi

University of Delhi is a central university which was established in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly. It has over 90 affiliated colleges under its head including the much-laudedSt Stephens, Hansraj, Hindu and SRCC. DU offers programs in Arts and Sciences, Management, Education, Information Technology and Economics.

DU usually begins its admission process each year in April after the CBSE exams in March through offline and online modes. But this year DU suspended all regular attendance, assemblies and assessments from 16 March 2020 till further orders due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a report in the Indian Express UGC has suggested that all exams should be conducted online in the month of July as opposed to May. Classes are already being held for regular students as well as SOL students through Google Classroom, Hangouts and Microsoft Teams apps.

IIM Ahmedabad

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad is a public institute for business management education. It was established in 1961 by the Societies Act. It offers Joint programs, Postgraduate programs and research programs in Management with its most famous one being the two-year IIM MBA and one-year IIM MBA-PGPX programs. Students need to qualify of the CAT exam to enroll into the two-year PGPM course.

According to Economic Times, students will be able to join IIMA by the last week of July through online classes, although it recently e-inaugurated its MBA-PGPX class, becoming the first institution in India to do so. IIM Ahmedabad has also planned to conduct online interviews for PhD admission from 31 March 2020 to 2 April 2020.

Amity University

Amity University has been ranked at the top several times by Times Business School surveys, as a leading not-for-profit university, which was established by the UGC by An Act of State Legislature. Amity’s Online MBAis very popularamong working professionals. It has more than 150 centers with more than 300 UG, PG and Ph.D. programs in Healthcare, Finance, Business Management, Liberal Arts, Information Technology, etc. Amity JEE is an entrance exam conducted by Amity University for entrance into the BTech Program. But due to COVID, the entrance test has been canceled.

Amity University accepts both offline and online applications for admissions. In 2020, the entire process of admissions as well as examinations is set to go online. According to a report in the Education World by Prof. Dr. Balvinder Shukla, Vice-Chancellor of Amity University, over 100,000 students are being taught live through the Virtual Classroom System of the University to finish the syllabus by April as scheduled. The app used for teaching is Microsoft Teams.

Jawaharlal University

Jawaharlal Nehru University is a Central University which was established in 1969 by an Act of the Parliament. It was ranked in the top three over the years by National Institutional Ranking Framework. It also received the Best University Award in 2017 by the President of India. JNU offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs in Literary Studies, Languages, Aesthetics, Sociology Environment, and several other disciplines.

JNU had shut down all regular proceedings from 16 March 2020 and is now conducting the MSc, MPhil and Ph.D. Semester exams online from 27 April 2020 till the 4th of May 2020, according to Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of JNU. All entrance exams and annual exams have been postponed due to the Covid-19 Epidemic till further notice, according to a report by First Post. 18 departments at JNU have been directed to prepare for the next semester online with the School of Life Sciences taking online lectures till 31 May 2020.

Government is already trying hard to improve the quality of and access to education through various open universities. But with the onslaught of COVID, even the mainstream central and state universities have made online education their main strategy.