Minutes from The Meeting held on 24th June'21: Update on Face-to-face classes, reopening of the campuses & many more

Held on 24th June 2021, Dr David K Pillai has addressed all the students of the BS Batch 2020-2021 regarding many important updates which the students were waiting for. Over the last couple of weeks, we have received various enquiries from our present students regarding their curriculum and plan of action for the days to come. Dr Pillai has gathered all those enquiries and has come live on Zoom to address those concerns. Where some of the issues were administration related, many of the queries were categorised as general updates to update the students on their BS curriculum and also giving them a hint of everything that lies ahead. Of all these, the most-awaited announcement was on the reopening of the campuses in Pune and Chennai for the Face to Face classes.

Reopening of the campus:

As announced by Dr Pillai himself that the Pune and the Chennai campuses will be opening from 5th July 2021 to resume the face to face classes for the students. This decision has been made given the decline in the daily reported Covid cases. Because most of the states are reporting fewer and fewer Covid cases per day, Transworld Educare in conjunction with the Government of India is deciding to open up the campuses for the students. Especially, for the medical students given the need for more healthcare professionals.

This decision to open the campuses has not been taken lightly. Rather an intensive discussion took place that saw all the partners & associations come together along with healthcare experts, govt officials and other authority bodies where all the possible scenarios have been considered. Therefore, the consensus has been reached only after many delegations with various restrictions and checks to ensure the maximum safety of the students.

Some of the immediate measures that are to be implemented are:

• 1. Every student who is arriving at the campus must be vaccinated. In case, the student is not vaccinated, he/she must inform the authorities accordingly so that a vaccine shot for the students can be arranged from the college’s side (subject to availability).
• 2. Students must carry their Covid Negative Test Report done 48 hours before arrival on the campus.
• 3. Students are requested to travel solo (preferably) or with very minimum visitors as we would like to avoid overcrowding at the campus at any cost.
• 4. The campus will be isolated. Therefore, the entry and exit of the students in and out of the campus will be restricted.
• 5. Students are requested to carry light luggage as most of the essentials will be provided by the college.
• 6. To avoid overcrowding of the students in the dorms, the accommodation facilities have been re-configured accordingly.
• 7. There will be regular disinfectant drives within the campus. Various sanitisation protocols are to be followed. At regular intervals, students will be checked for thermal reports and other Covid checks.
• 8. There will be emergency medical aid within the campus along with an isolation centre in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

All these guidelines are implemented to ensure the safe arrival and stay of the students at the campus.

Why coming to Campus has become very important for the students?

As Dr David K Pillai explained in the meeting, while the whole world has shifted to an online mode of education and teaching, there have been several challenges posed by this online mode of education. The major challenge is the Non-regulation of the Students.

We have noticed a drastic decrease in the number of attendees for the lectures and exams which is a cause of serious concern. Also, because the video of the students is switched off and muted, it becomes quite difficult for us to gauge the attentiveness of the students during the lecture. The conventional face-to-face classes were easy to regulate and proved to be more interactive than the online classes. Because of low attendance, the administration is bound to organise revision classes for the students who missed the earlier lectures because of which many units, chapters and portions haven’t been completed in time. There are around 15 subjects which are yet to be covered and to make up for the loss of time, we have decided to resume face-to-face classes.

Being residential campuses, we can regulate, monitor and guide the students 24x7 to help them clear the basics of the BS programme without which the students are sure to face difficulties in the later years of the MD program. To avoid this, the only plausible solution we have is to start face-to-face classes.

Update on Travel Dates:

Another underlying reason to invite the students back to the campus,as explained by Dr David K Pillai is the fact that as soon as the Indian embassies open, the visa stamping of the students will begin. Hence, it is only fair to prepare the students for the transfer to the Philippines campus. Students are requested to carry all the necessary documents for the visa stamping procedure. Although, there has been no formal update on when this process will start but we can keep ourselves ready as the time is not too far. With the campus in the Philippines already open, we will initiate the transfer process as soon as we get the green signal from the government.

It is also important to note that the Philippines government has declared that students travelling from India will not be permitted entry unless they are vaccinated. Hence, the students are requested to get vaccinated at the earliest. To book the vaccine slots quickly, students can use special provisions on account of Travelling Abroad using their admission form which will guarantee immediate jabs at your nearest centre.

The administrators of Transworld are continually striving to get the approval from the govt to allow the students to travel to the Philippines on Arrival Visa. Although, no confirmation has been received yet but rest assured we are doing everything on our end to make it happen.

Apart from this, the administration team is also petitioning to the govt to evaluate FMGE on percentile basis, confirmation on which is yet to be finalised.

To conclude the meeting, Dr David K Pillai has reiterated the adverse effects of this ongoing Pandemic and has asked everyone to not slack off one-bit and keep the awareness at high alert at all times. Dr Pillai has reinforced that we are all in this together, and only together can we win this fight against Covid.