Over 100,000 students along with 2,000 teachers join the move.
Over 100,000 management students from the 300-odd management schools in Pune city along with their 2,000 odd teachers appear to be on a war front when it comes to academics.
They have a lot to catch up with due to the H1N1 (better known as swine flu) outbreak, which started somewhere near the end of July and continued till mid-August. B-schools in Pune had to remain shut. Thus, students missed out on their syllabus during the initial period of the academic year.
Consequently, the preparation leave for the first semester half yearly examination has been reduced by 15-20 days and so has the Diwali holidays too.
Management schools are hurrying up with their portions, working overtime and cutting down on study leaves and holidays. Hear what Virendra Tatke, assistant professor, Indira College of Engineering and Management has to say. “We have given students only a week’s leave in Diwali as opposed to the conventional 2-3 weeks. Now, we have started working on weekends too as we began late due to the swine flu shut down.”
A first year student from Indira Institute of Management said, “Our preparation leave for the exam is cut down to only a week now as we hear that the university is not going to postpone the examination date. Barring public holidays, our classes are conducted on Saturdays and at times on Sundays too. The course has become very hectic as we have to finish the portion in a lesser span of time.”
Some schools have extended their lecture timings by an hour each to finish the portions. “We have started conducting our lectures for an hour more than the usual time so that the syllabus is covered on time.”, a lecturer from the International School of Business and Media (ISB&M), said
Sinhagad Institute’s MBA lecturer, Kavita Kamath is in hope that the university may postpone the examination at least by a week. She noted, “That way the students will get more time to prepare for the exams. Usual days are too packed now as we are doing extra lectures. Our Diwali holidays have not been declared so far but, the leave will not be a long one for sure.”
The pattern seems to be the same everywhere. Aditya Toley, second year student of Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS) shares how the management is making up for the lost time due to the swine flu break. “Since we had an unplanned H1N1 break when the lectures were cancelled, we have extra lectures on Sundays and on Saturdays. We work till 8 in the evening these days as opposed to the half day earlier.”
Hopefully, the students will be able to pull up their socks in time, ensuring good grades.
