Covid 19 coronavirus: University of Auckland returns to plan for students to return to campus

The University of Auckland has backtracked on its plan to get students back on campus for classes next week.

He has reversed part of his decision to operate classes of up to 300 people, which he had planned for the final weeks of the second semester that begins Monday.

Chief Health Officer Dr. Ashley Bloomfield had questioned the decision. The university has announced that it will be back online for the next fortnight.

In an email to staff, Vice Chancellor Dawn Freshwater says the learning will remain online until October 2, regardless of alert levels.

She says Bloomfield’s comments indicated that the Ministry of Education guidance did not apply to Auckland’s 2.5 level.

Freshwater says the two-week period is to ensure certainty for staff and students while the situation clears up.

Thousands of college students raised concerns this week about the lack of social distancing provisions and non-mandatory masks as they prepared to return to lectures.

Students at the University of Auckland were expected to return to face-to-face classes starting Monday, but many wanted to continue learning online until the university could meet social distancing requirements to protect against Covid-19.

This week, students flooded Freshwater’s email inbox and signed a petition requesting that all learning, aside from practical work, remain online.

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, said the university was “actively ignoring student concerns” and said they were being asked to return to campus without “support.”

“Updates have been few and far between, and students have been told to absorb the move back online when the second block has been a lot more difficult mentally.

“There is no obligation to wear masks, there is no support for students, there is no guarantee of physical distance.”

Other students echoed the concerns, saying there was a limit of 10 at social gatherings and no more than 50 at a funeral, but that it was okay to “put 300 in a conference room with no required masks.”

More than 80 students contacted NZME with their concerns, saying they were “dismayed”, “stressed” and that they thought the decision was “crazy”, “ridiculous” and “unsafe”.

Many wanted to wait until there was no community broadcast and felt that they were being treated as clients rather than students.

However, the university said yesterday that safety remains its priority and that the use of masks is “strongly recommended” where physical distancing is not possible.

In an email sent to a student earlier this week, Freshwater said students told them that they found it difficult to stay motivated and engaged through online learning, that they didn’t want to miss out on practical work and college life, be with your friends and the social aspects of the campus experience.

He said the university was closely following all guidelines from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education regarding its operation at each alert level.

“Our priority is to support a safe return to campus for students and staff, with all appropriate health and safety measures.”

Although there is no limit to class sizes, the university decided to limit face-to-face class sizes to less than 300 with larger classes online.

Physical distancing was “doable” with classes below 300, the university said.

Freshwater said this would help with physical distancing for those in need on campus.

She confirmed that the masks were not mandatory, but said “wearing masks on campus is strongly recommended in situations where physical distancing is not possible.”