No less than 182 teachers from the University of Jadavpur have received financial assistance from the institute to purchase equipment and peripherals as educational aid during the Covid pandemic.

Each teacher received 50,000 rupees as an interest-free advance on salary.

A teacher said the need for materials like desktops and laptops, and peripherals like routers and scanners is increasing as online classes and exams will continue for some time. .

Even if the campus reopens after the Puja in November, he said, there’s a good chance that only final year students will be called in for in-person classes.

A notice published on July 30 said the university had considered the proposal to provide support for educational assistance, “particularly in the pandemic zone where online education is compulsory.”

“This month, we sanctioned the teachers’ advance. The advance will be recovered in 20 monthly installments (2,500 Rs each) on the salary from October 2021 to May 2023, ”said Gour Krishna Pattanayak, head of finance for the JU.

A JU official said teachers wanted the university to purchase the equipment and peripherals, which would be returned once the need to run classes and exams on online platforms was over.

A notice signed by Pattanayak says: “Considering the current financial situation, the university is not able to provide such support …”.

The university teachers’ association in a letter to Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das on September 14 said: “The campus can only be opened in the first phase for final year students after the Puja, if the situation of Covid does not deteriorate further…. It should not be open to all students at the same time.

Parthapratim Roy, the general secretary of the teachers’ association, said: “First and second year students will have to continue taking classes on digital platforms until the university deems it safe to call them all back on. the campus.

The educational support will facilitate the realization of the online courses until then.