With Covid In Karnataka's Institutes, Do Students Prefer Online Classes?

Despite the challenges involved in maintaining Covid protocol, faculty members seem to hope that offline classes can go on.

Students are back on Karnataka campuses - but so is COVID 19 - with clusters reported from many educational institutions around the state on an almost daily basis. For now, though, authorities say the situation does not require a complete return to online learning, despite the clusters and the arrival of the Omicron variant.

Dr Ashwath Narayan, the state's Higher Education Minister, told NDTV, "Nothing like that (returning to online). If any cases are reported, all measures will be taken to contain and effectively tackle the situation. The regular classes will go on. Now is not the time to look back. We will see in the future, depending on the situation."

There have been many concerns expressed on social media by students who are required to appear for offline exams despite taking online classes for months, particularly from those who have to travel for these exams.

Many students taking offline classes on campus, however, say the advantages of offline classes outweigh the current risks. This is despite the rise in Covid cases numbers and the detection of the Omicron variant in Karnataka.