–Ritu Goit (ERC)
“Institute of Engineering (IOE)”, obviously this name has been heard multiple times. It is one of the oldest institutes of Tribhuwan University which has produced quality engineers since ages. It has 5 constituent campuses, namely Pulchowk Campus (Kathmandu), Thapathali Campus (Kathmandu), Purwanchal Campus (Dharan), Pashminchal Campus (Pokhara) and Rampur Engineering Campus (Chitwan). Undoubtedly, one will expect a high-quality education and proper management of educational system at IOE. Albeit, the truth is completely contrasting.
It’s been about more than 5 months of lockdown, and finally IOE has decided to start online classes for its educational programs, owing to the future of students. Despite regular online classes, a new problem has arisen. In Purwanchal Campus or ERC, a peculiar class routine has been published among students of First year. In detail, the routine has allocated only a single classroom in Microsoft Team for 48 students of Bachelor of Electronics Engineering, 96 students of Bachelor of Computer Engineering, 48 students of Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and 48 students of Bachelor of Agricultural Engineering.
Obviously, some of us might think, what might be the problem of 241people virtually being in one room? But, in practice handling 48, in usually class is actually a challenging task. In the context of experiencing online classes in Nepal, most students are already facing lots of technical issues, noises and disturbances. Some have to wait in the lobby and have to look forward to be connected as soon as possible. Due to this, they misseither crucial parts of lecture or the whole lecture. Indeed, these are common problem that many students are facing. In addition, with 240 participants, can students and teacher
get proper time for the discussion on any of the topic?
We have spoken to some of the first-year students of ERC. Some were frustrated mentioning that they got only few opportunities for arising quires. In the meantime, the teachers are unable to answer most of the questions asked by the students. As guessed by them, this might be because teachers are unable to notice, due to high noises. Fortunately, if some one is able to ask any question, they receive vague and incomplete ideas.
Protesting will not result any good output other than days-losses. The administration should be responsible for this. Such issues are also present in group of 48 students. But it will be much easier to handle 48 students than 240 students. During online classes, the classes are expected to be more interactive than solo-lectures. Engineers are one of the creative thinkers of any society. Thus, they are required to solve any problems, tactically and responsibly. The higher authorities are hereby requested to improve this situation, actually considering the future of engineering students. And they should confidently proclaim that still IOE has the best education system in Nepal.
-Ritu Goit (ERC)
