From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
In a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the management of the University of Ibadan has requested various faculties in the institution to identify the courses to be taught online and those to be taught physically for the remaining part of the second semester of the 2020/2021 session.
The Registrar, Mrs Olubunmi Faluyi, made this known in a special bulletin which was made available to reporters in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Monday, by the university’s Director of Public Communications, Mr Tunji Oladejo.
Mrs Faluyi explained that the step was imperative en route to the commencement of the blended model of teaching and learning for the remaining part of the semester, adding that the Emergency Remote Teaching Committee (ERTC), in its proposal to the Committee of Provosts and Deans (CoPD), in a meeting, held on August 11, 2021, had noted and recommendations on the mode of teaching and learning for the remaining part of the semester in view of COVID-19.
‘More cases of COVID-19 are being announced nationwide. These call for caution and proactive actions, which should take into consideration, in the main, the review of the mode of teaching and learning in the second semester and, as a consequence, provide a safe way to undertake pedagogical activities on Nigerian university campuses,’ she stated.
‘With the daily rising cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19, and with several cases within the main and the College of Medicine/UCH campuses, the ERTC considered a proposal of blended teaching for the second-semester lectures in the University.
‘The blended learning model should be officially decided in terms either of availability of sections of the student population for online or physical encounters or the categorisation of courses as online or physical which neutralises choice of location or keeps all students, in principle, in physical presence within and/or around the campus;
‘The ERTC platforms and tools (LMS, zoom, youtube, gsuite accounts, telegram fora, solution clinics) should be maintained for use by students and staff in all cases. Google meet, which is practically free should, in addition, be encouraged for lectures, since all academics have access to Gmail accounts. Firm decisions and systematicity should be applied on the preference for the operations of blended learning to ensure effectiveness.
‘Management should note the poor compliance with COVID-19 protocols by the entire university community and should ensure strict compliance through the University’s Covid- 19 Committee. If the situation worsens on campus, full online engagement should be mounted for all courses as was done in the first semester, exempting only departments and units with special needs with the condition that evident strict compliance with the protocols will be observed. Bigger zoom rooms for courses with more than 1800 students should be purchased and added to the existing pool.’