Students Return to Physical Classes

Following the Ministry of Education’s announcement, all of Taylor’s Lakeside Campus’ tutorials and practical classes have become face-to-face once again.

As the new semester unfolded on 29 August, the campus was once again bustling with students and lecturers alike who were once again starting face-to-face classes after the Ministry of Education stated that tutorials and practical classes were now allowed to be held in person. In fact, Philip Gan, the program director of Bachelor of Mass Communication, said that the sudden influx of students on campus was an unforeseen problem.

“Some of the new students deferred maybe for a year or so because they didn’t want online classes. As a result of that, this semester and last semester, we saw a huge increase in the number of students compared to before the pandemic,” said Gan. The sudden increase of students on campus has resulted in a variety of issues, such as traffic congestion that has been momentarily solved by additional drop-off and pick-up points around campus. Another issue that has arisen is the scheduling and timetabling issues faced by the management.

“Timetabling was definitely one of the biggest problems that we had, such as looking for classrooms that can accommodate the students. Due to the lack of spaces that can accommodate the tutorial classes, there was definitely a big issue,” added Gan.

“We are not the only ones having classes. There are other schools and faculties that are also vying for the same facilities as well, so it was definitely a huge challenge for timetabling to fit the students into the classes.”

Unforeseen influx of students on campus, says Gan.

Back in 2021, parents expressed concern over returning to physical classes at tuition centers. Students, on the other hand, expressed that there was added pressure during online classes and there was also a rising percentage in students with anxiety. 81.8% of students who partook in a survey made by the UCSI Poll Research Center reasoned that they preferred to return to physical classes as physical classes proved to be more effective.

In June, the Ministry of Higher Education announced that both public and private universities were now allowed to decide on their own timeframe during which lessons will be returned to being fully physical.

“Personally, it is not the issue of whether we can have everyone coming in to study, but the ability to control the students and the current situation,” said Datuk Ahmad Masrizal Muhammad, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Higher Education.

Despite the challenges, it seems like there have been no complaints so far that Gan has heard from students, lecturers, or parents alike regarding the return of offline classes.