Going to university in 2020

I agree that, fiscally, the students have been short changed Nannan2 and that needs to ve addressed either by the university or government. But I was referring to the impact of socialising which has affected everyone.

Really Icanhandthemback- well im glad for your son hes managed to make most of it- but can you also see he might not have caught covid19 at all if he weren't stuck in there mingling with all the others in first place- and that he was lucky to survive it. Theres also a lack of support from these young adults families but main thing they're complaining for is the lack of support from tutors who are ducking out of actually teaching some of them anything! And telling them to watch a youtube video is not teaching/tutoring.

There are lots of young people stuck in tiny accommodation, in high rise flats, without gardens, some of them with children of their own. Many of them will not have a University welfare system to support them, they have to get on with it.
There are clearly students out there who are having a bad time, and to any relatives of those people on here, please don't think that I'm saying that there are no problems at all.

But while not minimising the situation many students are finding themselves in, they are not unique and I'm finding this constant stream of breast beating on their behalf a bit much.

Life's not great for any of us just now. Saying that their education is ruined is a bit premature. Its a few weeks in their entire lives!

A course that consists mostly of reading and discussion can’t be done at home unless the student happens to live near a big academic library, and I suspect most don’t.

Toadinthehole

People don’t need to go to uni straight from school. They can go anytime. No one should have gone. It should all be on line. If it had been my children....we would have told them to defer. Go next year or the year after, no rush. It’s not like school, where things have to be done at certain ages, and the pupils aren’t a risk in society like students are. We’ve got them all round us in our university town. It’ll all kick off here soon?.

That's a very good point Toadinthehole. Students of that age won't forget all they have learned over the past 14 years, whereas younger school children can't easily remember from one term to the next, especially after the 6 months break they've had!

Like I said before, Open University. They're brilliant.

Grandma70s

A course that consists mostly of reading and discussion can’t be done at home unless the student happens to live near a big academic library, and I suspect most don’t.

One of the ways that courses are being adapted to online delivery is that universities are extending their licences so that more books and articles are available online, so students can access them from home. That is actually better for them, as there is no chance of the book they want being lent out to someone else.

Educationally, students need not be suffering. If staff have been given time to prepare for teaching online there is no reason why the experience should be massively different. Lectures can happen as usual online, and discussions and so on can take place over Zoom or similar.

I agree that the social aspects of being a student are being disrupted, and that living arrangements are far from ideal, but this is true for everyone, and it is early days. Things might get easier, and anyway would probably be much the same for most students if they were at home with their families.

I wonder if this will force a rethink of what students should expect from universities? Since fees rose so much many seem to expect them to provide ‘an experience’ way beyond the education they are paying for. There were several young people on the news over the summer asking for cheaper courses based on the fact that freshers week and so on would be impacted. This is provided by the SU, not the University itself . There are complaints made against staff when students don’t get the high grades they feel they have paid for, and then complaints from older people about grade inflation. It could all do with a rethink.

I sympathise with this generation of students. Their A levels were disrupted, and the time of their lives when they should be having fun is being curtailed - it’s rotten luck. But this is not the fault of the universities - everyone is suffering under this pandemic.

Paddyanne I totally agree with you. These students are supposed to be young ADULTS. It's time they started behaving like adults and taking responsibility for themselves and their actions, and the consequences. To see them on TV complaining about the restrictions and isolation and lack of social life makes me mad. "Grow up, you're in the adult world now!! If you can't hack it you should have stayed at home with your mummy."

Now I'll take cover behind the sofa.

Nannan2, there are no lectures yet because most students haven't started the term, it has been Freshers Week where they don't get lectures. And don't think my son hasn't had the lecture about mixing, learning from this, etc. He made his choice and had to live with it, just as we all do. He also was made aware of how lucky he is to have escaped a serious case but the reality is, most students will probably escape the serious cases.
growstuff, there will be some students who are completely alone because of the way their student accommodation is set up but the majority are in shared flats. Normally there are number of students with their own bedroom but there are shared cooking facilities. They can either combine to get online deliveries or, if they are stuck in their room like my son was, the others in the flat can get stuff for them. Places like Amazon (students get a 6 month free trial) can deliver in a very short time. Washing is different if you actually have to isolate but the majority of students will bounce fairly quickly and won't need a great deal of clothing for a 2 week isolation. Obviously those who are more ill should get support.
Grandma70s, sadly the courses running today seem very different to ours. Last year in his first year as an Economics student, all lectures were recorded and put online so you didn't actually need to attend them and a lot of students didn't. There were no debates, no question and answer sessions and very little group work. A friend of mine had a daughter who attended Uni studying law and her contact time was a measly 4 hours...just what my son is being offered this year instead of his 11 hours. Everything for the law student was expected to be done under their own steam. Personally I think that is terrible value for money but I use the point that the difference between last year and this is very much to do with the socialisation and partying. Quite frankly, the partying is something that needed to be addressed anyway...during Fresher's Week, ambulances are a too regular an occurrence at Universities and the amount of drinking games are hugely dangerous. I have been horrified.
I am not saying that there are no problems for students, I just don't think it is helpful to dramatise it all in such a way. It is up to parents to support their offspring where they can to help their young adults find solutions and to signpost them to the available support where they can't. At the end of the day, if you want to undertake University courses this year, you have to be prepared for the problems caused by this virus. You didn't need a crystal ball to see this was going to be a difficult year or that the virus would spike again.
Incidentally, I am not just going by my son's experience but on his many friends at different Universities, some who are just starting and some who are in later years.

It would have been a lot better if people had used their common sense and realised that this virus is going to be around all over the winter and probably beyond.. If they had thought about it they could have taken a gap year and just not gone to uni, they could have gone to a uni nearer to home and lived at home. This is probably just one year out of their lives, they will still have time to live away and party, but no they just carry on regardless. I don't really have any sympathy for the students, they had choices and they are young enough to have plenty of time in the future. Its the usual I must have regardless. Paddyanne you are right.

I think the Scottish Uni's are having basic food delivered to the accomodation ,saw one girl on TV this afternoon with half a dozen bags of shopping ,her complaint was she didn't get to choose what was in them !!

For those scapegoating students in Scotland let’s not forget that Covid has become rampant in the West of Scotland for the past few weeks.

That hasn’t been caused by students, because they weren’t at university. It’s been caused by Joe Public not obeying the rules. Glass houses and all that.

Cases per 100,000 in Glasgow City took off a week ago, shortly after the students returned. Its not the students fault, but there is a correlation.

It’s not just Glasgow, though. Dunbartonshire & Lanarkshire have been rising for weeks now. What’s behind that?

Sorry, that's Greater Glasgow and Clyde, not Glasgow City.

Sorry, x-post SueDonim.

Dunbartonshire and Lanarkshire numbers are significantly less than Glasgow City. Average daily cases in Dunbartonshire just now is less than 20, in Lanarkshire its 70. In Glasgow City its around 160. Glasgow City continues to rise, the others are more stable. All data from the Scottish Government website.

"growstuff, there will be some students who are completely alone because of the way their student accommodation is set up but the majority are in shared flats. Normally there are number of students with their own bedroom but there are shared cooking facilities. They can either combine to get online deliveries or, if they are stuck in their room like my son was, the others in the flat can get stuff for them. Places like Amazon (students get a 6 month free trial) can deliver in a very short time. Washing is different if you actually have to isolate but the majority of students will bounce fairly quickly and won't need a great deal of clothing for a 2 week isolation. Obviously those who are more ill should get support."

How are young people away from home for the first time supposed to know all that and be able to organise it?

Please do not patronise me! I do actually know of what I speak, having had an experience about which do not wish to speak. Pastoral care in some universities (Leeds Uni I'm looking at you! You nearly had a suicide on your hands!) is sadly lacking.

This was all so predictable and the staff should have been better prepared.

Maybe those students whose classes are all online should not have been encouraged to go to the University but to have stayed at home. Those who actually need practical classes- chemists, engineering, medicine and so on should have attended and they could have social distanced more easily without the full number of students. The universities want to fill up the halls of residences to get the income.

Barmeyoldbat

It would have been a lot better if people had used their common sense and realised that this virus is going to be around all over the winter and probably beyond.. If they had thought about it they could have taken a gap year and just not gone to uni, they could have gone to a uni nearer to home and lived at home. This is probably just one year out of their lives, they will still have time to live away and party, but no they just carry on regardless. I don't really have any sympathy for the students, they had choices and they are young enough to have plenty of time in the future. Its the usual I must have regardless. Paddyanne you are right.

It would have been better if universities hadn't promised a safe environment, which they couldn't deliver.

They needed the students in accommodation to pay the rents.

What would the young people have done in their gap year anyway? Casual labour has dried up and they would not be eligible for Universal Credit?

vegansrock

Maybe those students whose classes are all online should not have been encouraged to go to the University but to have stayed at home. Those who actually need practical classes- chemists, engineering, medicine and so on should have attended and they could have social distanced more easily without the full number of students. The universities want to fill up the halls of residences to get the income.

SNAP

Barmeyoldbat Your attitude towards a particular group of human beings, about whom you seem to understand little, does you no credit.

icanhandthemback Most students are 18 or over and legally are not the parents' responsibility and the universities will not communicate with parents.

If the child refuses to answer phone calls, texts, emails, etc and is 200 miles away, the parent is limited in what he/she can do. Contacting the university does no good either because they won't investigate, claiming that the student is an adult. Even travelling to the site does no good, if the university will not allow access to the building.

I'm afraid your post, thinking you know everything, has made me angry. You really don't seem to have much understanding of the experience of all too many students.

Grandma70s

A course that consists mostly of reading and discussion can’t be done at home unless the student happens to live near a big academic library, and I suspect most don’t.

Most books and periodicals, etc are available online.

Happysexagenarian

Paddyanne I totally agree with you. These students are supposed to be young ADULTS. It's time they started behaving like adults and taking responsibility for themselves and their actions, and the consequences. To see them on TV complaining about the restrictions and isolation and lack of social life makes me mad. "Grow up, you're in the adult world now!! If you can't hack it you should have stayed at home with your mummy."

Now I'll take cover behind the sofa.

I would have thought that you are adult enough to realise that TV interviews with individuals are never representative of a whole group of people.

Maybe the students who are whinging about being held against their will would like to change places with my friend. Her husband was diagnosed with bladder cancer 4 years ago and had five operations and five follow up treatments. In May this year he became ill again and it took my friend 4 weeks to get a doctor to come out to him and he was too weak to go to the surgery. Eventually a doctor did visit and he was taken straight into hospital, by this time the cancer had spread to various organs and only palliative care was possible. She was not allowed to go with him and only allowed an hour on his last day. Their grown up children were not allowed to go at all.
I think two weeks quarantine so that you can get on with your studies pales into significance compared to that.