Hotline for students with a cold

Hotline for students with a cold

Universities of applied sciences and universities like to see their students on campus now that this is possible again. They are little too eager, according to the National Union of Students (LSVb). Chairman Ama Boahene thinks that the strict enforcement of the attendance obligation is ‘inappropriate’ given the high number of corona infections.

Students at Utrecht University, for example, feel obliged to come to campus even if they should actually stay at home. This is stated in an e-mail in the hands of the regional broadcasting station RTV Utrecht (in Dutch).

Boahene sees that students are often afraid to miss an exam opportunity. And if they miss too many lessons, they can be deregistered from a course. In order to map out the scale of the problems surrounding compulsory attendance, the union has started a hotline (in Dutch) for students.

In theory, the solution sounds simple: an online alternative can ensure that a student can still follow the lesson if they have to stay at home. But according to the LSVb, in practice hybrid education has not taken off everywhere or has already been put aside now that the lecture halls are open again. “That is striking and a shame,” says Boahene. “Most classrooms now have recording equipment and it is a small effort to use it,” she thinks. (HOP, Josefine van Enk)