DU reopening: Teachers 'struggle' to find adequate facilities on day 1; blame 'mindless order'

The Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) on Monday criticised the varsity for not giving colleges and teachers "adequate time for preparation" on the first day of limited reopening of colleges.

The Delhi University issued a notification on January 29 to the varsity staff and instructed them to "attend to their workplace" from Monday, which the teachers' association termed as "mindless" and demanded its "immediate withdrawal".

It had also announced that it will allow final year students for practical classes at all its colleges.

"Today, teachers turned up at the workplace to find that they had to struggle to find an appropriate space from where they could teach. The internet collapsed in many colleges and teachers were found roaming around with their portable devices or laptops to be able to meet their online classes," DUTA president Rajib Ray alleged in a statement.

The Delhi University allowed final year students, who need to use college facilities for their practicals, to return to campuses, while making staff's presence mandatory from Monday.

The DUTA claimed that it had pointed it out to the vice-chancellor that the order "was bound to create chaos and confusion".

"No proper mechanism had been put in place to ensure no disruption to the teaching learning process before issuance of the order. It was clear that all teaching had to be conducted in the digital mode, hence, expecting teachers to be at home to take classes and in the college to mark their attendance was ridiculous," it alleged.

"The DUTA takes strong exception to this mindless order and demands its immediate withdrawal so that precious teaching time is not wasted and classes remain unmet," the DUTA added.