Beginning from Monday, 11 May, every student of Pan Atlantic University has received a gift of 3 gigabytes of data a week to enable them access lectures as the University declared its intention to continue with online tutorials in the wake of uncertainty around Covid-19 pandemic.
PAU’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Juan Manuel Elegido announced the decision of the University to continue online instruction for the remainder of the 2019/2020 academic year as well as the 2020/2021 session, hoping to commence October 2020. The University fully intends to “teach, learn, collaborate and work online” in the days ahead.
Prior to the lockdown announced by the Lagos State Government, the University had already closed its lecture halls and required students to vacate the main campus. It then switched students to online tutorials as it continued lectures for the second semester of the 2019/2020 session.
Before the across-the-board 3Gb data offer, PAU offered an allowance of N1,500 weekly to students on full-scholarship. It also provided for download slides and recordings of all zoom lectures. PAU stated, “It requires up to 80 percent less data to download a pre-recorded session than to participant in it live and the download can be done even if one’s internet connection is unstable.”
In a letter to all students on Friday, May 7, the PAU Vice Chancellor disclosed the decision of the University Management Council that the school would also conduct its examinations online subject to the approval of the Senate, continue compulsory internships required for graduation by appealing to companies to consider allowing students to do them online and plan ahead for the new session along the new paradigm. It would not pursue voluntary internships during this period.
Prof Elegido added, “As for the next academic session, much depends on decisions by the Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC). However, if we are not prevented from doing so by these regulators, we are fully committed to starting the 2020/21 session in early October, as we have done every year. Whether we can do so physically or will have to start the session working fully or partially online will depend on the public health situation by then.”