The University of Ibadan has ordered faculties in the institution to identify courses to be taught online and physically as regards the commencement of the blended mode of teaching and learning for the remaining part of the second semester of the 2020/2021 session.
The directive was in line with the incessant report of more cases of Covid-19 being announced nationwide.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by the registrar of the institution, Mrs Olubunmi Faluyi and made available to Nigerian Tribune by director of Public Communications, Mr Tunji Oladejo as maintained by the Emergency Remote Teaching Committee (ERTC) in its proposal to the Committee of Provosts and Deans (CoPD) in a meeting, held on the August 11, 2021.
According to the statement, the ERTC called for caution and proactive actions which it noted should take into consideration, 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.
It noted also that 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 had considered a proposal of blended teaching for the second-semester lectures in the university.
The ERTC also requested for a blended learning model that would be officially decided in terms, “either of availability of sections of the students 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, physical presence within and around the campus.”
“The ERTC platforms and tools such as LMS, zoom, Youtube, g suite accounts, telegram fora and solution clinics should be maintained for use by students and staff in all cases; while Google meet which is practically free should, in addition, be encouraged for lectures since all academics have access to Gmail account.
“Firm decisions and systematism should be applied on the preference for the operations of blended learning to ensure effectiveness,” the committee stated.
The committee also encouraged the management of the university to note poor compliance with COVID-19 protocols by the entire university community and should ensure strict compliance through the University’s Covid- 19 Committee.
It added that“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.”
The management of the institution commended all departments engaging in virtual/blended teaching since the commencement of the 2020/2021 Session.
It therefore urged all the departments in the institution to take advantage of the existing arrangements and commence virtual/blending teaching, adding that the Directorate of Information Technology and Media Services (ITeMS) and the ERTC are on the ground available to provide technical support.
The management also assured that arrangements are ongoing to make vaccines available for all staff and students as soon as possible.
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