The London School of Economics and University College London are among half a dozen institutions who say that they will be teaching their students at least partly online this autumn term, making this coming academic year the third in which students’ education has been disrupted.
The LSE says “the vast majority” of its seminars and classes are to be taught in person but lectures will be “largely delivered online”. UCL says it will “prioritise interactive face-to-face teaching, such as seminars and workshops”, but some elements will be “mostly online and others completely online”.
Why? Neither of them explain the scientific grounds for this retrograde move, at a time when other sectors have returned to normal and people in shops, offices, services and schools will be back doing work face to face with members of the public, fellow workers and pupils.
Most, if not all, the university teaching staff will have been vaccinated at least once by October; older staff, twice. Many students will have been vaccinated too and those that have not can take regular lateral flow tests.
One whistleblower pointed out to the BBC that universities can make financial savings by teaching online. Be that as it may, online teaching certainly doesn’t benefit students, who pay over £3,000 a term for their education and who miss the immediacy of face to face tuition and the opportunity to have proper questions and discussions with actual teachers.
These institutions have reputations to lose — they should think again.
