CHANDIGARH: Even as the University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed universities across the country to introduce blended mode (online and offline) for all courses, PU is not ready to take all courses online under the new system. University vice-chancellor Prof Rajkumar has constituted a committee of 17 members to implement the blended mode on the campus.
Challenges were underlined in the very first committee meeting, with 50 out of 54 PU department representatives declaring that they didn’t have the infrastructure required to offer all courses in blended mode.
Only departments like history, hotel management, Sanskrit and Vivekananda Studies of PU have agreed to the proposal. The UGC, in its 547th annual meeting on May 20, 2020, had decided to offer all courses at the university level in blended mode.
Under the blended mode, 40% of the syllabus would be covered online and 60% would be covered offline. Most of the students associated with PU are from rural areas and the new system is not feasible for them. University authorities will take feedback on the issue from students and teachers soon.
The high-power committee discussed all aspects of the UGC’s blended mode of studies in PU in detail and constituted a sub-committee of four members. It comprises Dr Rajat Sandhir, Prof S K Tomar, Dr Ashutosh and Dr Nandita. The committee will deliver a presentation on the blended mode before the high power committee within a month.
According to PU professors, most departments do not have infrastructure required for online teaching. Due to budget constraints, it is not possible for PU to implement such blended mode in all departments at present. According to a committee member, a hasty decision could become a problem for the varsity later. There are about 75 departments, research centers and research chairs in PU.
