New Delhi: As novel coronavirus affected across the nation, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has taken the decision to suspend all face-to-face lectures for the remaining year. Taking note of the safety of students, teachers and staff, major decisions are being made. IIT-Bombay will be fully digital for next semester.
IIT Bombay director Subhasis Chaudhuri said in a Facebook post, “For IIT Bombay, students are the first priority. We took the first step in India in concretely deciding how we must bring a closure to the current semester to help our students.”
“But given the current condition of the pandemic, how do we plan for the next semester for our students? Again, after a long deliberation in the Senate, we have decided today that the next semester will be run purely in the online mode so that there is no compromise on the safety and well-being of the students,” he said.
“We do not want a single student to miss out the learning experience for the lack of money. We have estimated that we need about Rs 5 crores to help those needy students. Our alumni have committed a good amount of support, but that is not enough for all these needy students and I solicit through this message your donations, however small it may be,” Chaudhuri wrote in his Facebook post.
Since most of IIT-Bombay’s students come from economically less privileged families, the director calls for donations so that each student can take online classes.
At the same time, India’s COVID-19 case has exceeded the 1,40,00 mark. Of a total of 1,42,900 cases, 62,369 are active, while 73,792 have been cured. Up to now, 6739 people have died due to infection.
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