Ramakrishna Mission Residential College (Autonomous), Narendrapur, and Scottish Church College won’t go into summer recess on May 2 because any disruption in studies could come in the way of completing the syllabi for the ongoing semester, said the heads of both institutions.
The residential college in Narendrapur will continue to hold offline classes. If senior teachers find it difficult to travel to the campus because of the scorching heat, they can conduct online classes, said principal Swami Ekachittananda.
“The teachers can also exercise the option of conducting in-person classes in the morning or the evening to avoid the excessive heat during the afternoon,” the principal said.
Scottish Church College, which is affiliated to Calcutta University, will hold classes online for about a week from May 2 and then review the situation, principal Madhumanjari Mandal said.
The state education department told universities and colleges on Wednesday they would have to choose one of the three options by May 2 — bring forward the vacation, go online or make arrangements to protect students and staff from the heat.
Swami Ekachittananda said he met teachers of the college on Thursday evening to discuss the government’s advisory.
“We will preferably continue with in-person classes from May 5 (the college will remain closed from May 1 to 4). Else, we won’t be able to complete the syllabus and start the next semester on time,” the principal told The Telegraph.
The principal had on Sunday told this newspaper about his decision on curtailing the summer recess so they could make up for the loss suffered during the pandemic-induced closure of the campuses.
“We are sticking to the plan while making suitable arrangements to protect students and others from the heat,” the monk said.
The students of the college will have a week-long study leave before the offline exams in June and July, an official of the college said.
Scottish Church College will suspend practical classes during the period of online classes, principal Mandal said.
“The students will not be exposed to the heat if classes are held online. We will review the situation after a week. But we are against giving any summer break now. Classes have to be completed before the end-semester exams,” she said.
The teachers of the college have been asked to come to the campus to hold online classes.
Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur, which used to have a month-long summer recess in June in the pre-pandemic times, had planned to do away with the recess to make up for the loss caused by the pandemic, an official of the college said.
The students will be given a week’s study leave before the end-semester exams in June.
The official said they were talking to teachers to find out whether they would continue with in-person classes.