No definite date for reopening of UG

The University of Guyana (UG) has moved to withdraw the June reopening of its campuses amid the COVID-19 crisis.
On Friday, the institution indicated that the Transitional Management Committee (TMC) said that no definite date for the return to face-to-face classes has been announced.
It went on to say that a ‘full-scale return’ to campus before the end of June was not envisaged at present. However, stakeholders can look forward to an update next week.
Initially, the University had considered dates in May and June for the full reopening of campus. The last announced date was June 1.
In that earlier statement, the administration noted that students continued to face challenges in accessing lectures online. Initially, the institution had proposed a reopening date of May 6, but owing to the progression of the COVID-19 curve, this date was changed.
Some 30 measures were taken to enhance hygienic practices on campus for when physical sessions commence. Additionally, UG has sought to expand the range of communication mediums to offer better online engagements.
“Despite challenges, the University has never stopped working. It has taken about 30 key measures in the last six weeks to help promote the importance of hygiene and safety and improve its capacity to deliver online. These range from addressing the physical risks by rapidly producing prevention protocols, including producing its own sanitisers, to installing sinks and sanitisation bays, to rolling out a slew of communication tools and applications to enhance the online experience,” the statement had indicated.  Meanwhile, the institution has created an internal task force to support its online system, along with integrating other devices on its teaching platform Moodle.
In order to test the experience of using these new tools, the TMC deployed ‘experience’ surveys to 5000 respondents and produced two reports.
Over the past weeks, students have vented their frustration about the institution’s response in addressing their concerns. They have indicated that while many have tuned in for classes, the classes are filled  with assignments rather than discussions and actual teaching sessions from lecturers.