UWI students want grace period for assignments

Justin Subero, UWI St Augustine guild president. - The UWI
Justin Subero, UWI St Augustine guild president. - The UWI

MARLENE AUGUSTINE

The Students’ Guild at the University of the West Indies is asking for a grace period to enable students to facilitate assignments related to their examinations as the institution remains closed because of covid19 precautions.

Guild President Justin Subero said Friday all actions taken by the UWI St Augustine Campus are in the best interest of the student population.

But, he added, although students, especially final year students, are disappointed that UWI has postponed their examinations, they do understand it was necessary to combat the spread of covid19.

On March 13, the Prime Minister announced in Parliament that from March 14, all schools and universities will close for a week, in the first instance, in order to slow the spread of the virus. That was later amended to April 20.

However, on March 20, Professor Brian Copeland, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, informed students that their examinations will be postponed.

Subero said in respect to students’ assignments, the guild submitted a letter to the campus registrar appealing for a minimum one-week extension on all assessments to facilitate students who were inconvenienced by returning home.

“We would have had a lot of regional students go back home and the campus is closed as well, so they are trying to facilitate as much remote activities as well, and exams being one of those things, they would now have to decide when and how they are going to go about doing it. I know students will be notified accordingly.”

Subero said a lot of students did not have classes this week because they are still converting to the online programmes. He said the guild has asked for a grace period for students.

“In this way, students can settle and run it from next week. We just have to wait and see when exams are going to happen and from there we will know how it is going to affect this semester and the summer semester as well,” Subero said.

In a release, Copeland said the university is committed to ensuring the health and well being of the UWI community and equally important is the university’s commitment to ensuring academic continuity. He encouraged all staff and students to check their UWI e-mail for the full update regarding teaching and examinations.

“We understand that implementing these changes with such limited notice will have broad impacts and will be challenging for many students,” the statement said. “Notwithstanding, we are committed to ensuring that students can complete the semester and fulfil their academic requirements.”

Comments

"UWI students want grace period for assignments"

More in this section