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SUBWAYUniversities are hesitant to move to online teaching to quell Covid because they are desperate to keep students disenchanted until the Christmas holidays, when a deadline for fee refunds runs out, experts say.
In England, students who drop out of school in their first term are required to pay just 25% of their £ 9,250 fees. However, many will not know that if they leave after their institution’s period 1 deadline, they have to pay half of the course fees, or £ 4,625.
So far, the universities of Nottingham, Manchester, Northumbria, Sheffield and Newcastle have each reported more than 1,000 confirmed cases of Covid among students and staff, with others seeing a rapid increase. However, some institutions do not publish case numbers.
Most of the hardest hit colleges have announced a “temporary” switch to online teaching for two weeks, but are emphasizing that this will be reviewed before the end of the month.
Vicky Blake, president of the Union of Universities and Colleges, says: “There is a real question as to why universities have not made what would be, by any measure, a sensible planning decision at this time and discontinued face-to-face teaching. I think it’s about fees and that’s disgusting. “She adds,” The longer universities can keep students there, the more money they are entitled to receive. It’s daunting when you fix what’s probably behind all this. “
Blake says the union is awash in “horror stories” about the well-being of staff and students. “I keep hearing staff being told not to isolate themselves even though their students have tested positive. Some are teaching in poorly ventilated spaces. Cleaners are not clearly told which floors they are insulating. The students don’t know that the hallway floor has Covid. “
Simon Marginson, a professor of higher education at the University of Oxford, says universities are becoming “incubation chambers for the pandemic in local communities, like arsonists amplifying a fire.” He says that despite believing in their duty to care for their students, universities are forced to focus on fee revenue because the government has not offered them any financial support if they lose students and is pressuring them to stay open.
In England, some institutions say that anyone who leaves after the fall reading week will have to pay half their fees, while others count the limit from the end of this period or the first day of the new one in January. Scottish universities lose year-round fees for every Scottish student who leaves before December 1, according to the Scottish Awards Agency.
However, Marginson believes that college managers are wrong to predict that thousands of students would drop out of school if they were sent home to study online. “Where the courses are done completely online now, this is not causing massive withdrawals,” he says. “In the context of a collapsed youth job market and a prolonged recession to come, an online higher education and a degree is a far better outcome than no degree. The students and their families know it. ”
Meanwhile, UCU says it is receiving reports of staff self-medicating for stress, and many are intensely eager to teach face-to-face.
An academic at Manchester Metropolitan University says terrified staff are being told they don’t need to isolate themselves, even if they have taught a student who tested positive. “A student in a colleague’s classes tested positive and the teacher only found out because the student contacted him directly.
“The security measures implemented in my building were more than pathetic,” says the academic. “They told us that we couldn’t tell the students to wear masks in class because they wouldn’t like it. And there are several exterior doors, but we all go out and come through the same door. The signs say “stay away if possible.” It’s a joke.”
A university spokesperson says most buildings have separate entrances and exits, one-way systems, and hand sanitizers. The university provides all students with a face covering that they must wear in the common areas, but once in the classrooms, with social distancing, “the students decide” whether to use it. “We let the staff know if a student they’ve been within 2 meters of tests positive and we provide support and guidance,” he says.
At the University of Nottingham, 254 employees have signed a furious open letter to his vice chancellor, condemning a call for teachers to volunteer to sit in student rooms where students isolate themselves to offer advice, as well as to answer help lines. The letter says that “asking staff to de-prioritize primary job responsibilities and volunteer for roles they are not trained for” will “erode the experience students deserve” and worsen “already deteriorating staff working conditions. in times of crisis ”.
One professor, who asks to remain anonymous, is “outraged” that the university wants to place staff in corridors where cases are spreading. “The university knows how fearful many staff members are of teaching in classrooms. What universe are they living in? They are asking for 90 employees a day to put aside their core duties and essentially work in a call center. “
A spokesperson for the University of Nottingham says the new help center will “streamline” support services and provide students, parents and staff with advice on the measures the university has implemented. “We ask for volunteers to help where and if their other duties allow.”
A Bournemouth University professor, who wants to remain anonymous, is angry that the university has not released its Covid numbers. “Every student residence in Bournemouth has cases, from a single isolation to a complete hallway. There are more than 100 cases, but management believes that this should be kept confidential. “
Bournemouth has agreed that most of the teaching will be online until January, but the professor says managers are not being honest with students about the likelihood that it will also be online next term. “They fear students will say ‘What? You brought me here and put me in this little cell and you expect me to be here until March? ‘”
A Bournemouth spokesperson says the university provides students and staff with “the latest information” every Thursday by email. “Accurate information is shared with those who need it and we are reviewing our reporting structure regularly.” He says the university is working closely with the local authority and Public Health England to respond “quickly and appropriately” to all positive test results.
Students across the UK continue to use social media to protest their isolation. Laura HowesThe 19-year-old student at the University of West London made an appeal on Twitter saying that she and her roommates had not received help from the university when they were unable to reserve a delivery space at the supermarket.
This week the university announced new measures to help isolate students, including weekly fruit and vegetable plots and a lone student buddy plan, but Howes says that when his roommate tested positive they were treated “with a basic foul. of humanity “.
“We created a food bank in our kitchen with donations from kind people outside the university, since no one was helping us. A lady has gathered her neighbors to help and risked her own health to leave food twice, even though she herself is struggling to earn money ”.
Sara Raybould, UWL Vice Chancellor for Student Experience, says, “We are committed to supporting all of our students during this difficult time and constantly review our services based on feedback to provide the level of support our students need.”
A spokeswoman for Universities UK, representing the vice chancellors, called on the government to do more to help, with a test and trace strategy for universities. “Universities continue to adhere to government guidance. Extensive security measures have been put in place to reduce risks, and universities continue to provide an engaging learning experience.
“It is more important than ever that the government commit to a mass testing strategy for university students and staff, with rapid turnaround of results and effective follow-up of contacts.”
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