UPDATED: June 26, 2021 14:16 IST
SRCC principal Simrit Kaur with students; Photo by Chandradeep Kumar
1. Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi
1. Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi
Guru Speak | Simrit Kaur
Principal, Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi
"Last March, when students left for the Holi break, many left their books or laptops behind, assuming they would soon return— but then, suddenly, the lockdown was imposed. The same day, we had a staff council meeting on the best way to move forward. Within 48 hours, we were back on track. While students are familiar with digital technologies, we had training sessions for the teachers. There were different aspects that we had to consider—how to get students and faculty to adapt to online learning, and how to make sure that student-to-college and student-to-student relationships did not suffer. All our lectures were also put up online. We circulated Google forms to understand how students and teachers were adapting to the new systems. We are strengthening our Wi-Fi networks. We have also adopted smart classrooms, with a white board and 12 feet of walking space for teachers. Students can attend these classess online from wherever they might be. Students have also been encouraged to take Coursera courses. We have provided students with 24/7 career and psychological counselling. This year, placements were conducted virtually, with better-than-expected results—median salaries were higher than we had hoped. Looking forward, I anticipate future education systems to involve blended learning. We are also working on further tech upgradation of both our software and hardware. But in the end, students do want to come back to college—there is no substitute for campus life.”