IIT Bombay scraps face-to-face lectures till end of year; first major institute to do so

In light of the increasing coronavirus infections in the country and to ensure the safety and well-being of the students, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay has decided to scrap all face-to-face lectures for the rest of the year.

IIT Bombay has become the first major institute to scrap all classroom lectures for the next semester. The announcement was made by the Director of the institute, Professor Subhasis Chaudhuri who said the decision was made "after a long deliberation".

"For IIT Bombay, students are the first priority. After a long deliberation in the Senate, we have decided that the next semester will be run purely in the online mode so that there is no compromise on the safety and well-being of the students, he stated in the Facebook post. The semester for undergraduate and post-graduate courses is scheduled to begin in July.” 

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‘Donate for less privileged students’

Prof Chaudhuri also made a donation appeal for students who belong to less privileged families and lack amenities such as laptops and broadband connectivity to participate in these online classes.

"We have estimated that we need about Rs 5 crores to help those needy students. We look forward to your overwhelming support to help these bright young minds to continue their learning without any further hindrances or delays," he wrote.

India's total COVID-19 cases has risen to 4,56,183, of which 1,83,022 are active while 2,58,685 people have recovered. A total of 14,476 people succumbed to the as of date, the Health Ministry said. With 1.39 lakh cases, Maharashtra is the worst-hit state and Mumbai alone reported nearly 70,000 cases so far.

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