Students are going back to their college hostels to refer to academic resources available in libraries, unhappy as they are with the quality and frequency of online classes being imparted by two of the state’s stellar medical colleges.

A resident of Adityapur near Jamshedpur, who is a second-year student of Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) in Ranchi, left for his college hostel on May 25 after spending two months at home during the lockdown.

Another second-year student, a resident of Bokaro, reached RIMS hostel on June 1. Both said online classes that were being conducted by RIMS from about a month ago were irregular. And since they could not afford to take private lessons available widely in various online coaching platforms, they decided to go back to Ranchi and use resources available on campus.

MGM Medical College at Dimna in Mango, Jamshedpur Animesh Sengupta

'I had returned to my house in Jamshedpur a day before the lockdown was imposed on March 25. The college administration started online classes using Zoom in the first week of May. But after two days, things got irregular. And I was hugely disappointed,” the Aditypaur resident told The Telegraph Online.

He said there were several private tutorials, like Marrow, FTP Lectures and Osmosis, offering one-year courses with charges ranging from Rs 19,000 to Rs 25,000. “But my parents cannot afford it. Also, I don’t have access to reference material, and there isn’t enough space at home for me to pursue serious studies. Hence, I decided to come back my hostel,' the student said.

RIMS director D.K. Singh did not agree that online classes offered by the state’s largest medical college and hospital were irregular. He said those who faced issues should have contacted him.

'Online classes launched by our faculty must be going on smoothly. But if anyone has any grievance about the quality of classes, he or she may contact me. I will have it checked and take necessary action,' he told The Telegraph Online on Thursday.

Students held similarly poor views about the quality of classes being offered at MGM Medical College, a state-run institute in Jamshedpur catering to patients and students from the Kolhan region.

A second-year student, who has joined a private tutorial, noted there was no difference between MGM and RIMS a far as online classes were concerned. “Before joining private online tutorials I found out about AIIMS-Patna. There, not only were online classes being conducted regularly, college authorities were also holding the internal examinations on schedule,” he said.

MGM medical college dean R.K. Mandhan, however, claimed that online classes, launched after the imposition of the lockdown, were being conducted regularly. “Some students are taking private tutorials… But our online classes are going on. If any student has anything to say about them, then he or she can contact us,' he said.