Jamia's MA in Mass Media students demand resumption of offline classes

Postgraduate mass media students of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi have written to the vice-chancellor of the varsity demanding resumption of offline classes citing a lack of opportunities to learn in classes conducted online.

In an email to the vice-chancellor on March 28, students of MA in Mass Media (Hindi Journalism), which is a self-financing course, said that most students come from lower-middle class families and are feeling "cheated" by the kind of education they are receiving.

"We are feeling cheated by the kind of education we are receiving through the online mode since it's incomplete. Such is the situation that many students are thinking of withdrawing their admission. We are paying Rs 33,700 a semester," the email sent to JMI vice-chancellor Najma Akhtar read.

The students also said that other universities have fully resumed physical classes and cited an online opinion survey done by them in which 36 out of 39 students voted in favour of offline classes.

"We have collectively decided that we will completely boycott online classes and will not pay the fees till the university issues a circular announcing resumption of offline classes so that maximum students can be benefitted," the mail read.

Chandra Dev Yadav, head of department of Hindi at the university, said that it's a matter of policy and the decision is not in their hands.

"On March 2, classes of final year Masters students resumed and then classes for final year undergraduate students resumed in the physical mode. Subsequently, the central library was opened. The university is opening in a phased manner. I have written to the vice-chancellor for resumption of classes for them," he said.

Yadav also said that they met the students online on April 1 and tried to explain them how the system works but they remained adamant on their demands.