Navigating through the Pandemic: Jamia Administration

Jamia Millia Islamia University has been disloyal to students ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. Even after the re-opening of other universities in the country, JMI University has been adamant about keeping the college closed. After two years of online classes, and countless protests, the university has now finally opened. Although, it remains closed for first-year students.

Amidst the pandemic, it was not only difficult to prepare for exams but also to attend classes, even though they were online. After attending classes for so long through the online mode, the concentration level of many students dropped due to the continuous wandering on the screen. The ignorant behavior of the administration has not been helpful in this situation either. While some students were struggling to finish the paper on time, Jamia’s helpline desk number was not operative, which added more to the burden of those students who were not able to submit their answer sheets.

“With one or the other person sick in the house, studying in itself was a task. Moreover, the helpline number was not responsive, which made the situation difficult for students who could not upload their answers on time due to various reasons,” said a 1st-year student (now in 3rd year).

Be it for the re-opening of the college or any other matter, the administration’s attitude towards students has always been unfair. They have kept the students in the dark by not releasing any notice for the longest time possible and when a notice was recently released it was taken down from the site in a few hours, with the administration stating it as “fake news”. Thankfully, they shortly released another notice for the re-opening of the college; however, the ignorant attitude remains.

The administration gave a mere 10 days to the students before starting with offline classes and with no hostel facilities, it has been very difficult for students to travel from afar and search for PGs or apartments in such a short notice period.

“Not only did we struggle to shift to a whole new city within this short span, but also were obliged to find a residence. No notice was released for the hostels and the students were left to opt for expensive PGs/flats. Even today, many are facing several issues concerning PG facilities, whilst also struggling to adapt to a whole new city”, says a third-year Literature student.

Even after keeping the college closed for more than two years, the administration still hasn’t made the necessary arrangements for resuming offline classes. Students from distant locations are not given access to hostels. And even now, there has been no information regarding offline classes for 1st-year students.

“We students of the first year were greatly unsatisfied with this partiality. We held many protests for the full reopening, but the administration didn’t care,” a student of Jamia Millia Islamia said in an interview with ‘The Indian Express’.

Recently, the examination department lost a first-year student’s answer sheets and marked her absent, thus failing her in the first-semester examination, claiming that the student did not submit the paper. However, the student insisted that she had submitted all the papers, and so the administration requested proof. Despite the evidence, the administration has yet to pass the student.

“I talked to my professors about the issue. One of them told me that she had passed me with fairly good grades, but the portal shows I have failed. After finally being able to get done with the formalities for my earlier subjects, I’ll probably have to go through the misery once again, as the work has still not been done. It’s difficult to process the things happening to me when my exams for the second semester have just started,” said a first-year student of BA English.

While all other universities in the country have reopened, JMI University remains closed for many students. Even though classes for second and third years have begun in offline mode, hostels are still unavailable for them. This only adds to the administration’s lack of loyalty toward students. When the country is still recovering from the pandemic, it is important to have an education institution with adequate administration. Effective administration supports education that goes far beyond simply imparting knowledge.

Sana Perween is a student pursuing English Literature from Jamia Millia Islamia.

Edited by: Maryam Hassan