In Conversation with Ritika Behl, Amity Law School Noida

Ms. Ritika Behl is an Assistant Professor at Amity Law School, Noida. In this interview conducted by Campus Ambassador Ashwin Gupta, the professor talks about, amongst other things, how COVID-19 impacted lives of faculties and students and has a bonus tip for students to spend their lockdown in a productive way..Let’s address the elephant in the room, the second wave of COVID-19 hit when colleges around the country started opening up. How difficult was it to go back to the ‘WORK FROM HOME’ setting?Frankly speaking it was a saving grace in a way since the faculties are equally prone to be affected by the transmission of COVID-19 which can severely affect the old parents and young children, faculties might have to care for once they are back home. But it was equally frustrating to not meet the old students we might have taught or the new ones we might have never met in person.The WFH setting was also helpful in a way that it provided more time for additional readings which definitely helped in improving the course delivery and the course material. Yet again the benefit of such resources varied from student to student but overall more windows were opened for research work that was carried out by students..The college was open for faculties until the month of March 2021. How different was the Post-COVID-19 setting at Amity Law School?Amity University Uttar Pradesh was accommodative in a way starting from the mid-February month when the campus was opened for faculties and staff. They allowed faculties to work from home in case they were unable to carry out their responsibilities on campus. But it had its flip side as well since it costed such faculties 40% of their salaries which was a huge chunk of their earnings.Apart from that the faculties continued to undertake online teaching assignments as was done starting from the month of March 2020 since the faculties had already adapted to the new systems very well..Frankly, how much do you think online system of teaching differs from face to face classes? As a final year student, I know it makes a difference? What is your opinion on this?It creates a huge difference to not be able to individually meet students in person and conduct the session while being able to assess their performance in person on day to day basis. It also leaves the faculties with limited means of reaching out to weak students affectively on routine basis. Besides that I also observed that have 7-8 online sessions in a day led to headache/ migraines amongst students since they had to concentrate on screens continuously. That also demotivated the students. But overall we would not have been able to sail through the academic year 2020-21 without online mode of teaching..Many students across the country have alleged harassment from proctors during ‘Online Exams’, for example Narsee Monjee in Mumbai or Christ university in Bangalore. Any comment?I would not like to comment on the same since such incidents are still being investigated..Final year students across the country are worried for their future career prospects. Let’s say you are interviewing a candidate for a job opportunity tomorrow, what would you look for in their CV? I have always emphasized that students should not solely concentrate upon achieving 9 pointers because there are various more means through which it can be made evident that a student has been focused and diligent throughout their law school. I have maintained this stand even before the pandemic outbreak. But by saying this in no way do I mean to under-determine the confidence and knowledge a student might have achieved by fairing well in their exams.As an employer what would be most important criteria for me would me to what extent has student participated in moot court competitions or have publications to their credit or have successfully undertaken online diploma/ distance learning programs for enhancing their knowledge and broadening their vision. I would also try to understand the interests of such student beyond their academic life since it provides a fruitful insight about the candidate..These are testing times, and mental health plays an important role for students and teachers both. Do you have a message for your colleagues and students?I totally agree with my faculty colleagues and student fraternity that these are perhaps the most tough and unprecedented times that we have witnessed in our academic lives. But this pandemic has provided us opportunities to understand our resilient we are towards achieving our goals.I believe mental health of students and faculties has been an ignored aspect during this pandemic so it provides avenues for universities to work on adopting newer ways.