IIM Calcutta teachers oppose bringing students to the campus
October 12 2023
IIM Calcutta teachers oppose bringing students to the campus
IIM Calcutta had on September 8 announced that it might call 62 students of the one-year residential MBA executive programme to the campus in order that they could use the web network there and attend online classes without disruption. the scholars are attending online classes from home since April. The IIM Calcutta teachers expressed that the choice could trigger grave health consequences and alleged that they had not been consulted on the matter
The letter to Kulkarni says: “You would remember that recently IIT Kharagpur had to make a decision to vacate its hostel's thanks to continuing spread of COVID-19. consistent with recent news reports, a student of the PGPX programme at IIM Ahmedabad who had been allowed to return into campus has tested positive for COVID-19. News like this has caused considerable anxiety to different stakeholders — campus residents, other faculty and staff who regularly visit the campus for official work — who would be impacted by this decision.”
Raising questions on the absence of consultations on the matter, the teachers ask: “What steps did our institute fancy make sure that stakeholders were consulted before taking this decision with potentially grave consequences for his or her health and safety?”
Metro contacted Kulkarni but he said he couldn't talk because he was busy at a gathering. He didn't answer text messages.
Repeated calls to director Anju Seth went unanswered. She, too, didn't answer text messages from this newspaper.
As many as 61 teachers of IIM Calcutta have written to the institute’s board of governors wondering whether it had been prudent to call students of the MBA executive program to the campus amid the COVID pandemic.
The 61 teachers — the Joka B-school’s current faculty strength is 82 — have expressed the fear that the students’ journey to and presence on the campus could trigger grave health consequences and alleged that they had not been consulted on the matter.
The letter — on behalf of IIM Calcutta Faculty Forum and addressed to the chairman of the institute’s board, Shri-Krishna Kulkarni — have cited samples of COVID cases on the campuses of IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Kharagpur.
The IIM authorities had said on September 8: “Following the recent central and government advisories and regulatory guidelines, the scholars will arrive on the campus in small batches to undertake quarantine within the campus hostel, while still attending classes online.”
The Unlock 4 guidelines issued by the housing ministry on August 29 said the upper education institutions could reopen for research scholars and postgraduate students of technical and professional programs requiring laboratory/experimental work.
“These are going to be permitted by the department of upper education in consultation with the ministry, supported the assessment of things, and keeping in sight of the incidence of Covid-19 within the states/Union Territories,” says the rule.
The IIM teachers have asked whether the choice to call the scholars to the campus was in accordance with the rules.
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Anisha has done MBA in Marketing from NMIMS And Executive Management(PMNO) from Harvard Business School. She has been instrumental in growing CATKing Digital with her experience with Marico and Henkel in the past.
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