It is as if we follow the confinement classes at the institute but with a higher academic level We have not lived the change to university life Who speaks without concealing his dejection is Iván Gallego a native of Cáceres with an enviable record who studies Mathematics at the Autonomous University of Madrid UAM
This month he has gone to campus every Friday for exams but hardly any lessons have been scheduled Although the teachers put all their effort following five hours of class online is very hard he says The initial plan of the UAM was to move the teaching to facetoface in the second semester but the data does not accompany As I live in a residence at least that is new but those who are still at home are in the same
In the most restrictive campuses due to the circumstances of the pandemic nothing invites you to stay to soak up university life The benches are sealed it is forbidden to lie down in the meadows the cafes run on half gas they do not offer dining and cultural activity is online or very restricted
The context is so adverse that although an average of 18 of students drop out in their first year the student body predicts that the cataclysm this time will be greater We are going to see a lot of people who drop out change careers these weeks or take a sabbatical
There will be a lot of disaffection regrets Andrea Paricio president of the federation of student associations CREUP
One of the disenchanted students CREUP talks about is Mireia Brui but luckily her story has a happy ending This 18yearold neighbor from Paiporta Valencia has lived a real gymkhana until she studied Medicine In a hurry he has moved to Reus Tarragona to study at the Rovira i Virgili University
She resigned from entering a private school convinced that she would enter a public one but the court grades increased so much that she stayed out So disappointed she returned to selectivity in September with the purpose of saving a better grade for the next year and enrolled at the La Fe Nursing School in Valencia But two days later they called me from Tarragona I packed my bags and I came he says by phone
Mireia had facetoface classes every other week until the Generalitat ceased life on the campuses on October 13 Now he follows them remotely and crosses his fingers so that his practices in an outpatient clinic in April are not canceled
He had to quarantine for the positive of a roommate so he has hardly had any contact with the class He deals with the ten with whom he formed a bubble group a group that no longer works because at least all of November it will continue with virtual theoretical classes
CREU asked Minister Manuel Castells to give priority to firstyear students with more hours of facetoface classes and although it was not taken into account in the start protocol of this course the rectors have tried to give them special treatment with more tutorials or more presence on campus
Every year the change of methodology from the institute to the university costs them a lot and we have tried to take it into account and pamper them as much as possible explains Constanza Rubio deputy director of the degree in Agronomic Engineering at the Polytechnic of Valencia UPV
The lower the grade with which they entered the University it is usually Humanities or Social Sciences the higher the possibility that the student will drop out because they have not entered the grade they wanted
Engineering is also a scabechina but in this case because of its great demand This course political decisions have caused a domino effect The autonomous governments sponsored that the cloisters had a wide sleeve in the evaluation of the high school graduates forced to study the exams that were going to condition their professional future and almost all obtained the title
In Catalonia for example those approved went from 72 to 83 In addition the selectivity was as always a military walk It was passed by 93 of the more than 225000 registered But then thereal battle to the last thousandth for entry into the desired career
The minimum qualification for access increased in seven out of every 10 races according to estimates made by this newspaper and almost a hundred degrees were positioned above 13 out of 14 Result
More disappointment because they have not registered where they wanted For example of the 124000 students who applied for a place in Catalonia 738 have obtained it in one of the options demanded in 2019 it was 805
The loneliness of online teachings that Iván talks about is recorded in the ministrys data 62 of those who study the degree remotely drop out compared to 27 in person But this gap does not photograph reality The profile of the habitual student from home is the opposite of that of the novice an adult with a stable life work and in many cases already graduated
That is why Castells former professor of the virtual Oberta de Catalunya after praising online teaching and removing the iron from confinement ended up specifying that it was not the best option for young people for whom university is more than just the content of the subjects
We consider our teaching spaces as places of personal and work relationships in which close humane treatment contributes a lot to training and research Without emotion education is more difficult the rector of the University of Granada wrote in this newspaper in May
Now his luck has been twisted The Board decided on October 13 to send the students home for seven days and from the university they affirm that they will continue on the same stage
When the weeks go by the firstyear classrooms are emptied in the UPVs Agronomic Engineering The student gets frustrated or discovers fun but not this course
The vice principal of the grade is surprised We created hybrid classrooms within the university so that the classes on the big screen could follow those who did not fit thinking that later they would not be necessary But they keep coming After being confined they value presence
During the end of last year university students from all over Spain denounced their helplessness on the networks There were teachers who were limited to uploading a PDF to the Internet but this course does not seem to be such abandonment
The professors are not only giving classes but also posting more material on the Internet and that helps to understand says Paloma Forés Vice Dean of Veterinary Students at the Complutense University
She is proud of the mentoring program that they launched years ago and that has been copied in other UCM faculties This year we have a record of telemacos 110 out of 155 students wanted to have a mentor from the last courses to guide them His students receive half of the theoretical classes online
Forés explains that they are doing a lot of continuous evaluation in case there is an extreme confinement They received many emails from students worried about infecting their families or public transport and the faculty reassured them they are only obliged to attend practices
Aida Fortea and Juan Cárdenas tell their experience from the campus of the Polytechnic of Valencia the focus of attention these weeks for a coronavirus outbreak after a party that has resulted in 168 infections and 650 confined schoolboys
For this reason the classes of his degree Civil Engineering moved remotely for two weeks and now bless the return to presence They fit in class and only computer practices are from home What a strong will that people who study online have It is impossible to maintain attention for so many hours You go to the kitchen to the bathroom the phone rings Aida reasons Juan confesses that from home it was more difficult for him to ask his questions
Aida and Juan have become friends in a few weeks but recognize that masks hinder social relationships It is difficult to remember the faces and names of your colleagues if you do not see them says Aida who turned 18 the week of March that Spain was confined So he couldnt celebrate his birthday nor did Fallas nor did he graduate from High School in June nor go to Benidorm with friends
Interacting with colleagues is essential for those who come from outside María López from Mota del Cuervo Cuenca has settled in Alicante to study Advertising and Public Relations
She shares a flat with friends from the town and with her classmates she contacted on Twitter before classes started Now he has two WhatsApp groups one of the 250 students of the degree and another of the 50 of his group which in turn are divided into two to go to class
It corresponds to him to go to campus one week out of twobut he recognizes that he could go every day because there are plenty of places It is enough to notify by mobile and take the position of another In other universities it is not allowed because they create bubble groups
I get along well if you study architecture it will be different he reasons What María does not do so well is integration in a new city They came to eat when possible 30 divided into tables of 10 and have fraternized with a game Among Us in which the participants travel on a ship Cyber diversions waiting for better times in which to alternate with many more companions and without a mask
Although universities have given priority to the presence in the classroom of experimental careers or engineering there are some with luck This is the case of Arturo Sánchez from La Rioja who studies at the University of Zaragoza
Although in the residence they eat three at the table they have been able to socialize and being on the afternoon shift there are fewer students and the classes are facetoface Of course with a very peculiar university environment from which a young person learns There are nurses covid trackers retirees he delighted
