Several students with the support of their union bodies have raised objections against the Blended Mode of Education issued by University Grants Commission (UGC). The students have began to sign an online petition which will be presented to the honourable president, Mr. Ram Nath Kovind expressing the issues and concerns.
The petition is initiated by an organisation which consists representatives from different student unions like Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Chhatra RJD and JNUSU. The organisation is named as The All India Forum to Save Public Education. The online petition is circulated among students by various means to gain maximum number of support.
The petition about UGC’s blended mode of education mentions that it is inappropriate to promote online learning at such large extent without having any evidences that either is it effective or not. It is clearly visible that online learning depletes the quality of education and it could never match the standards of learning which are found in classrooms.
The UGC has only been making assumptions over the success of online classes. The ground reality is still hidden that most of the students in remote areas or from underprivileged families does not have enough resources to manage online learning. The UGC’s new mode would just widen the structural differences which already exist.
Even if the blended mode brings any advantages to the system, it would result in restricting students of marginalized communities from getting into the higher education. And this would be like snatching the fundamental right of education from students which they deserve irrespective of their financial or social backgrounds.
The concept of UGC’s ‘Blended Mode of Learning’ is designed by an expert committee to implement uninterrupted online education in universities and colleges amid the pandemic. Under this mode, higher education institutes are allowed to complete 40 percent course of any program through online mode.