IIT Bombay to start first-year UG semester online from November 16

The first semester of the Indian Insitute of Technology, Bombay (IIT Bombay) for first-year Undergraduate (UG) students will be completely online where students can attend virtual classes from their homes as a precautionary measure against Covid-19, announced Subhasis Chaudhuri, director of IIT Bombay. The first semester online classes will begin on November 16 with the orientation of the new batch on November 11.

Chaudhuri announced on the official social media page stating, "This message is for all incoming first-year undergraduate (UG) students at IIT Bombay. All of you have gone through various uncertainties and difficulties due to the pandemic. The semester will be online and you will be joining from home. The orientation programmes for the batch will start from November 11."

Further, Chaudhuri stated, "The instruction will begin from November 16 and the first week of instruction will be the zero week where students will be explained on how to attend lectures and exams online. Our student mentors will be reaching out to students beforehand and help getting properly oriented so that the onboarding becomes a smooth one."

The institute will conduct an orientation for the parents or guardians as they need to help students to study from home. In addition, IIT Bombay aims to complete the entire academic year by June 2021. Chaudhuri said, "We have planned the semesters such that students can complete the entire academic year by end of June so that students get at least one month of summer vacation next year. Following which, semester timings will be synchronous with the rest of the batches."

Students of IIT Bombay, some of them who have returned to their native states due to lockdown, are worried about the conduct of practicals, labs, and workshops. A student on request of anonymity said, "I understand the coronavirus risks involved but, how will we perform practicals from home?" While another student said, "I do not want to miss the opportunity to learn first-hand information from on ground workshops and practical labs conducted by IIT Bombay professors."

IIT Bombay shifted to a completely online mode of teaching-learning as it scrapped all physical face to face lectures in June as a precautionary measure against Covid-19.