Indore: Indore – the educational hub which is worst hit due to coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh – is going to see a huge drop in the number of outstation students due to the deadly virus playing havoc in the city, believe educationalists.
More than 3100 persons tested positive for coronavirus in the city, which is close to nearly 45 per cent of the total number of persons found infected in the state so far.
These figures have sent ripples through the people across the state and nearby states who prefer Indore to other cities as a educational destination.
The educationalists say that given the magnitude of the COVID-19 crisis here most of the parents are not going to send their wards to the city.
“Owing to the present situation, I don’t think most parents are going to send their children for studies in Indore this year. For parents, the safety of their children will be more important than education. We understand that,” said Prof PN Mishra, senior-most professor of Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV).
Nearly 1.5 lakh outstation students come to Indore every year for students in colleges, including the ones preparing for competitive exams. More than 95 per cent of these students live in private hostels or rented rooms on sharing basis.
“It has been noticed that sometimes more than two students live in a single room in private hostels so maintaining social distancing is going to be a big issue. Since you can’t enhance infrastructure overnight, you have to face problems the coronavirus brought with it. You will see empty hostels this year as many outstation students prefer their own cities to Indore for higher studies,” said Ramesh Mangal, a senior academic.
Former vice-chancellor Prof Ashutosh Mishra also echoes same thought.
“Indore is a destination for higher education to students in the state but the atmosphere here is not at all conducive due to a large number of COVID-19 cases. So, the drop in the number of outstation students is palpable,” the former VC said.
He stated that the challenges of infrastructure are real and difficult to deal with so they would have to take some harsh decision this year.
“We may think of accommodating one student in one room. We will also increase the number of sections to ensure proper social distancing this year,” he added.
There are about more than 200 colleges, including around 45 engineering colleges in the city. Nearly 70 per cent of students in these colleges are outstation students. Colleges fear huge losses if outstation students won’t turn up for admissions this year.
PN Mishra said that outstation students are very likely to take admissions in colleges in their respective districts instead of coming to Indore this year. “They may, however, come to Indore next year when the coronavirus fear ends completely as there is no alternative to quality of education provided in Indore to rest of MP. So Indore is and will remain the ultimate destination for higher education in MP,” he added.
“Exams schedule should not be rigid”
Though the academics welcomed the decision of state government of fixing a schedule for examinations of undergraduate final year and post-graduate final semester students from June 29 to July 31, they stated that the schedule should be tentative in nature and should hinge on the ground situation.
“The situation of COVID-19 in Rewa is not the same in all districts in MP. The situation in Rewa is different from that in Indore. Maybe the government is in a position of holding exams of students in Rewa in July but not in Indore. So, our request is that the exam schedule should not be rigid. If the situation does not permit the conducting of exams in any district, it should not be held as the safety of students is the priority,” said PN Mishra.
Vishisht School of Management director Anas Iqbal echoed the same view. “If the situation permits then conduct exams or extend them. Delay in session is acceptable against the lives of students,” he said. He stated that it would be a nice idea if outstation students are allowed to take exams in colleges in their district itself. The government should think on that line instead of calling them to Indore and other cities which are badly hit by coronavirus, he added.
