Medical, dental colleges prepare for Monday opening

Online classes to continue as normal

Following the State government’s green signal, medical, dental colleges and allied health institutions are making preparations to welcome students back to campus from Monday. Practicals and clinical postings for students, many of whom, have expressed their dissatisfaction with online classes, will be prioritised. However, heads of institutes that The Hindu spoke to said they will continue with hybrid sessions, where students will be able to attend classes online if they wish to do so. The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), in a circular issued on Saturday, stated that only students, teaching and non-teaching staff, who have taken at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination, may be permitted to attend classes physically. The onus of ensuring that SOPs are followed rests on individual institutions. RGUHS also instructed institution heads to submit a compliance report after reopening. Balakrishna P. Shetty, V-C, Sri Siddhartha Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, said that with experts predicting a third wave in a couple of months, online classes will continue to be held. “We will have hybrid sessions, where students who wish to attend classes online may continue to do so, while others can attend physical classes,” he said, and added that there would be no college events or functions.