With countries all over the world going into their own versions of a lockdown the question of education has become a common concern for universities everywhere. In the United States, a number of universities have started to explore the possibility that in-person classes may have to be cancelled until 2021.
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Several schools such as Boston University, Harvard, and the University of Arizona have already elected to cancel all in-person activities and instead move instruction to an online medium.
Universities are hoping for the best – a resumption of classes for the fall semester – but are preparing for the worst. The ‘worst’ entails resuming in-person classes in 2021.
“The Recovery Plan recognizes that if, in the unlikely event that public health officials deem it unsafe to open in the fall of 2020, then the University’s contingency plan envisions the need to consider a later in-person return, perhaps in January 2021,” Boston University’s statement reads.
Oregon State, another University that has likewise cancelled classes, shares the view that they cannot bank on a return to classes this year.
(ADMU Shortens Semester, Passes Students and Offers Tuition Refund)
“Only the novel coronavirus will determine what happens. We can hope for a full return in fall 2020, but hope is not a strategy. So that is why we are going to prepare as best we can for every possible contingency,” explained OSU spokesman Steve Clark.
Harvard, as well, is considering “lots of different scenarios” for the fall semester, said President Lawrence S. Bacow.
Do you think colleges in the Philippines should start planning for the same?Â
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