The attendance of first-year students in the degree colleges was poor on Friday when the colleges were reopened for all students. One of the reasons for the poor turnout was the absence of hostel facility for fresh students.
The Departments of Social Welfare and Backward Classes Welfare have not begun the process to admit fresh students for the hostels. The government has allowed only renewal of admission of those in the second and final year of the course. Many students who take admission in city colleges are dependent on hostels for their studies. It would be difficult for them to travel every day from their place.
An officer of the Social Welfare Department said the government had not yet allowed fresh admissions, given the restrictions due to COVID-19. Those got the admissions in the last years, would get the hostel facility. “If there are first-year students, travelling from remote places to attend classes, we will try to accommodate them on humanitarian grounds. We have been instructed to help such students”, he said.
Of the total 7,436 students in the first year of the undergraduate course in Shivamogga district, around 2,300 attended class on the first day. However, the turnout in the second and third-year classes was slightly better.
The colleges have been instructed to follow COVID-19 guidelines while allowing students inside the campus. In Hassan, hundreds of engineering students appeared for semester examinations at Malnad College of Engineering with masks and hand gloves.
