The turnout of students at city colleges remains low even a month after they reopened their campuses  for in-person lectures. Educationists said many students do not seem motivated to return to campus in the absence of extracurricular activities, while there are others who have become comfortable with the online mode of learning. There are also practical issues, like incomplete vaccination and a lack of clarity on hostel accommodation.

After a gap of over a year and a half, colleges in the city reopened their campuses for physical classes on October 20. The Higher & Technical Education Department’s condition was that all students and the staff must be fully vaccinated. Colleges reopened with much zeal even though the response was low on the first few days, as most students had not taken both their Covid-19 vaccine doses. There was hope that the campuses would see more students in the following weeks. However, a month later, the situation hasn’t changed much. Most city colleges are recording a physical attendance of about 10-20 per cent.