Coronavirus outbreak: Punjab Engineering College struggles to make online module for students
In view of the outbreak of coronavirus, PEC has announced closure of both undergraduate and postgraduate classes till April 15
Punjab Engineering College (PEC) is struggling to create an online module for students in order to make up for academic loss due to the closure of the institution.
In view of the outbreak of coronavirus, PEC has announced closure of both undergraduate and postgraduate classes till April 15. Last week, the training of teachers was also called off when one of them was quarantined after being in touch with a Covid-19 positive alumnus.
Director of institute, Dheeraj Sanghi, said the institute was facing difficulty in getting the online material ready for students. The brother of first Covid-19 patient in tricity, a 23-year-old girl from Sector 21, is a PEC alumnus. He was also tested positive for the virus. Sanghi also said, “The teacher was home quarantined, while other faculty members were also requested to stay at homes considering the situation. The training was also called off for few days.”
FACULTY MEMBER TESTS NEGATIVE
Later, the swab test for Covid-19 conducted on the faculty turned out to be negative and the training was resumed, but thereafter, the UT administration directed all the educational institutions to work from home and hence, the training was called off again.
“Now that both faculty and research scholars are either on leave or working from home, making online videos is very difficult. We need support of research scholars so that they can assist the faculty when it comes to the recording of material and audio-visual process. It seems we won’t be able to create any videos till March 31. Let’s see how things work out ahead,” Sanghi said.
The engineering college, in an e-mail to the students earlier, had said it was working “on an online strategy so that the semester is not postponed by four weeks.” “The online strategy will involve Google technology platforms, including Google Classroom, Google Meet, Google Jamboard, and to use these technologies, one will have to login to pec.edu.in accounts,” the college’s mail read.
