Business schools put safety measures in place as they gear up for campus reopening

NEW DELHI | MUMBAI: Top business schools in the country are implementing a slew of measures to keep their campuses safe from Covid-19 pandemic even as they gear up to resume physical classes in two to three months depending on government directions.A number of Indian Institutes of Management and Indian School of Business said all safety measures are being put in place to resume physical classes as soon as they receive guidelines from the human resources development ministry.From setting up testing and quarantining facilities within the campuses and frequent sanitisation of premises to staggering mess timings and offering hybrid classes that students can attend either online or offline, the b-schools are busy chalking out and implementing reopening plans.77098479“There is no substitute for physical classes and we are hopeful of resuming this by the end of first term (ending in October) if travel rules are relaxed,” said Anandakuttan B Unnithan, dean (academics affairs) at IIM Kozhikode that plans to resume on-campus classes by October end depending on the government directive on campus re-opening.ISB looks to start its PGP (post graduate programmes) classes on campus by the end of August. The final decision will depend on guidelines from the government and situation on the ground, said Ramabhadran Thirumalai, senior associate dean at the Hyderabad-based business school.IIM Indore is hopeful of bringing students back to campus before this year ends but in a phased manner. “Our priority is to bring in students who are in remote areas or are facing problems in internet connectivity or access to online classes,” said Himanshu Rai, director of the institute.While labour unavailability is making things tougher, faculty, IT and administration staff are working overtime to lay down the new norms for the campus.“We are on Zoom calls till midnight to get the students back on the campus,” Rai said. IIM Indore is setting up a Covid-19 testing facility within the campus.IIM Tiruchirappalli plans to give all students single occupancy rooms, with staggered mess timings, and is also setting up a quarantining facility, its director Bhimaraya Metri said.IIM Ahmedabad is awaiting the government’s directive to open its campus for students, its dean (programme) Shailesh Gandhi said. Ditto for IIM Bangalore. “Based on the evolving situation and government’s directives, students may be invited to campus for regular face-to-face classes in the future months,” said Abhoy K Ojha, dean (programmes) at IIMB.IIMB, which has started online classes for several programmes, is preparing to welcome around 545 students of its doctoral programme (PhD), and two-year fulltime MBA and MBA (business analytics) courses early next month. However, resuming classes on campus will depend on government directive, Ojha said.The government had earlier directed schools and colleges to remain closed till July 31.Some like IIM Lucknow and ISB are also working on a hybrid model – a combination of online and offline – for their new batches.“Every course will also be offered in a hybrid format. Students can attend courses in class or online,” said Thirumalai of ISB.IIM Lucknow is prepared to offer hybrid classes or 100% online classes depending on the situations, its PGP chairman Ajay Garg said.XLRI, the country’s oldest business school founded in 1949, has decided to hold the first semester of the current academic year online, and to do away with activities like peer-group interaction and mandatory rural area visits till the pandemic situation improves significantly.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3jCPA7E