by Efstratia Naioula, Marina Gaiti, Oana Orzac, Eleonora Zorzenone, Carolina Pedrajas- Botella and Francesco Fiori
The Government has announced a new lockdown that will force universities to remain closed and deliver remote learning.
Yesterday Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that England would go again into strict lockdown until March in order to prevent the spread of the new variant of Covid 19. As a result of this, universities are forced to stay closed and deliver remote learning at least until mid-February.
Universities were already delivering lessons largely via online platforms since March, when the pandemic first hit. Students have been trying to adapt to this new reality while still trying to produce the same quality of work they are expected to.
Pedro José Lodoño, 22, a Computer Science student at City University of London, said: “Due to the pandemic I had to study at home instead of going to the library, which reduced my productivity.
“The online tutorials are awkward as a lot of people do not want to talk or ask questions online and now the exams are mainly group projects.”
Despite universities trying to find the best solutions for the students with remote learning, not every module can be easily delivered online. Patricia Graca, 31, Media and Communication student at East London University, finds online lessons hard. “My course is more practical. It is harder to do the group projects because of the pandemic restrictions,” she said.
However, not every student has been negatively affected by the lockdown rules. Christian C., 33, a third-year student at Goldsmith University, thinks that online classes are helping him to succeed with his exams. He said: “There is less stress for me and I have more possibilities to get good grades.”
The government representatives have not yet announced any changes for University fee and the only facilitation that will be provided to students are tools that can help them with online classes.
Adam Jogee as a guest speaker at London Metropolitan University and, Horney Mayor, said: “You need to maintain people’s wellbeing and guarantee the education that students paid for. Any support that can be provided to students should be given.”
Also due to Covid-19, the GCSEs and A-level exams have been scrapped, with a variation of the ‘predicted grade’ scheme likely to be put in place. That could have a significant impact on the future of next year’s uni students.
Evangelos Gaitis, 21, a Game Design student at London Middlesex University, said: “I was so devastated when the government announced that the exams were cancelled and this whole ‘predicted grades’ scheme was put in place. My future depended on my previous performance and these predicted grades. I was not given the chance to fight for my future.”
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