SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region — For Himalaya Kamaran, senior year was supposed to be the best year of her university experience. Instead, the English major at the University of Sulaimani is left feeling cheated.
Amid a total shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, universities in the Kurdistan Region decided to end the 2019-2020 academic year early, without requiring students to complete their second semester coursework or take final exams.
While for some students the announcement came as a relief, for senior students at Kurdish universities it means they miss out not only on the capstone of their academic experience, but missing out on the long-dreamed-about moment of crossing the stage to take their diploma in hand.
“We are left with so much uncovered material regarding our field of study,” Kamaran told Rudaw English. “This will affect our background knowledge because the majority of the students will not study the un-studied topics with an exception of a few who still keep in touch to enhance their skills.”
Because many students come from different cities, they won’t be able to all reconvene again as a class one last time before graduating. Lockdown measures have banned inter-city travel, leaving graduating students like Nihad Ahmed Zubair, feeling frustrated and hopeless these days.
“Every year at this time, we are preparing to take group pictures with classmates,” a senior in the English Department at the University of Zakho told Rudaw English.
The cancellation seriously affects all students, but there is some relief due to from the stress of the pandemic, says Muhamad Rahman Faizulla, a senior in the English Department at Salahaddin University. “I am worried, of course, but I the decision was made to save students,” he figures.
“The ceremony can be compensated by the students’ families, by arranging a similar in-house event, but it is absolutely shocking for students to be deprived from enjoying it after long years of studying and hard work,” Faizulla said.
In a televised speech, the Minister of Higher Education announced that the decision was intended to keep everybody safe from the virus. However, no suggestions or solutions were offered on what will become of students who have not completed their necessary graduation research or final-term projects.
Considering the fact that Kurdistan has a limited healthcare infrastructure, taking measures to reduce the risk to coronavirus is important and worth praising, says Lanja Najmadin, who previously taught at Qaiwan International University.
“The minister made this decision based on optimism that this virus can be eliminated by fall so that we can fully resume normal classes, and may be compensate for classes of 2020,” Najmadin told Rudaw English. “But this is now wishful thinking, as many virologists expect a second wave in autumn. So there is no way the ministry can guarantee that he classes which are lost can be compensated for next year.”
Previously, some universities started making plans to move courses online. However, the Education Ministry has decided only to make the online materials “optional”, meaning students will not be held accountable if they don’t join their Google Classrooms or Edmodo groups, and the materials covered will not be included on their exams.
The majority of KRG universities aren’t prepared yet to make the transition to online and e-learning options. “Part of the reason for that is because Kurdish universities have not built a strong electronic infrastructure that can support enhancing the quality and the level of education,” says Twana A. Tahir, Director of Quality Assurance Office at Komar University of Science and Technology.
“This pandemic and lockdown period showed the necessity of changing the current path of the learning process inside our universities and having a proper plan for any similar situation in the future,” Tahir told Rudaw English. While there are some standouts, on the whole the technical infrastructure of Kurdish universities isn’t yet ready to make the jump to making learning widely accessible online.
With the loss of the crowning event of the graduation ceremony, the sleepless nights studying, students’ stories of heartbreak and success will have to be celebrated this graduation season without throwing their caps in the air. Instead, the class of 2020 goes into the future facing even greater challenges than ever before, hoping they will be prepared.
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