After IIT-B, IIT-Delhi to shift all classes online for next semester

The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) on Thursday said it will conduct all of the upcoming semester’s classes online in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, after the prestigious institute’s Mumbai branch announced a similar decision earlier in the day.

IIT-D director V Ramgopal Rao on Thursday said the institute will follow the recommendations made by a sub-committee on the minimum common strategy to be followed by all IITs. “We do not have a choice this year. We will follow the sub committee’s report, which recommends online mode to conduct classes for the upcoming semester,” he said.

According to the sub-committee’s report — which HT has reviewed — submitted to the IIT council’s standing committee on June 15, classes for the first semester of the 2020-21 academic year will be conducted online for all courses.

“Semester 1 (2020-21) classes for all UG [undergraduate] and PG [postgraduate] programs to be conducted in online mode for all courses, with short term and smaller weightage evaluations through viva, online quizzes, take-home exams, online exams, etc,” reads the report.

Rao said IIT-D will allow students facing difficulties in attending online classes due to problems with internet access to return to the campus, as recommended by the sub-committee.

“These students will also take online classes from their hostels. No individual shall be forced to return to campus, he/she shall take relevant safety, quarantine and safe travel measures, as applicable,” the report added.

The institute will shift the laboratory component of the courses to a later part of the academic year, as recommended by the sub-committee.

However, the situation will be reviewed again in October 2020, officials said.

The institute will allow PhD students, who require experimental research facilities and others who need other institute resources, to return to the campus if they wish, after July 20.

“We will allow the PhD students to return to the campus gradually after July 20. IIT-Delhi will mostly follow what the sub-committee report has recommended,” Rao said.

The institute will also formulate standard operating procedures (SOP) for various research, administration, teaching and hostel activities to contain the spread of Covid-19.

IIT-D has a combined staff and strength of over 20,000 students at its Hauz Khas campus. The institute had shifted all its classes online on March 13 in view of the pandemic.