BENGALURU — When the COVID-19 pandemic forced India into an unprecedented lockdown in March 2020, life across the country changed overnight. Educational institutions, among the hardest hit, were shuttered indefinitely. For colleges across Karnataka — from government-aided institutions in Mysuru to private universities in Bengaluru — the sudden halt posed enormous challenges. Yet amid the confusion, stories of resilience, adaptation, and innovation quietly unfolded.
The Digital Turn: Learning Beyond Classrooms
As physical classrooms turned dark, virtual ones began to glow. Most colleges, including the University of Mysore and Bengaluru’s Mount Carmel College, rapidly pivoted to online classes. Within weeks, Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams became the new blackboards.
Dr. Latha Krishnan, Dean of Academics at a reputed college in Mangaluru, recalls the mad rush to digitize: “We had a week to train faculty on virtual teaching tools. Many of our senior professors were using these platforms for the first time.”
Yet it wasn’t just teachers who had to adjust. Students, particularly from rural areas, faced significant hurdles.
A Digital Divide Exposed
For Nandini R., a second-year B.Com student from a remote village near Chikmagalur, online classes were a struggle. “The network would drop every few minutes,” she said. “Sometimes I had to climb the hill behind my house just to get enough signal to attend lectures.”
While urban students had better access to technology, others depended on shared phones, borrowed laptops, or community centers. Colleges like Government First Grade College in Raichur distributed recorded lectures via WhatsApp to reach students who couldn’t attend live classes.
Mental Health: The Silent Pandemic
Beyond the digital challenges, students also grappled with isolation and anxiety. With hostels shut and campus life suspended, many lost the sense of community college once offered.
Sneha Pillai, a psychology major at Jain University, said the lockdown took a toll on her mental health. “My final year was supposed to be about internships and farewells. Instead, I was stuck at home, staring at a screen. The uncertainty was unbearable.”
Several colleges responded by setting up virtual counseling services. National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru partnered with universities to offer free tele-counseling.
Administration on Overdrive
The crisis called for rapid innovation at the administrative level. Examination schedules were the first to crumble. Most institutions replaced traditional exams with open-book tests, online quizzes, and continuous internal assessments.
Professor R. Gopalakrishnan, Registrar of a major university, explained, “We had to rewrite the rulebook. The goal was to ensure students weren’t penalized for things beyond their control.”
One innovative example came from Christ University, which introduced asynchronous lectures paired with reflective journals to evaluate learning outcomes.
Attendance policies were also reworked. Colleges shifted from daily attendance to weekly participation tracking, recognizing that students couldn’t always log in on time due to connectivity issues or family responsibilities.
Extracurricular Life Goes Online
Campus festivals, debates, and clubs — typically the heartbeat of college life — didn’t fade entirely. They adapted.
Student unions organized virtual fests using Instagram Live, Zoom talent shows, and YouTube webinars. Mount Carmel’s famed cultural fest, Cul-Ah, went digital for the first time in its history.
“We had dance battles on Reels, poetry slams on Google Meet. It wasn’t the same, but it kept us connected,” said Ayesha Shaikh, a student organizer.
Some colleges even began hosting online hackathons and webinars with international speakers — something that would have been logistically complex in person.
Internships and Placements: A Mixed Bag
For final-year students, the lockdown period was filled with dread over job prospects. Companies froze hiring, and many internships were cancelled. However, a surprising number of firms transitioned to remote internships.
Pranav Joshi, a mechanical engineering student from PES University, landed a virtual internship with a German tech startup. “It was weird initially — doing team meetings in pajamas — but eventually it became a valuable experience.”
Meanwhile, placement cells doubled their efforts to connect students with remote opportunities. The Karnataka State Higher Education Council launched a digital job fair initiative to bridge the gap between students and employers.
Faculty Perspective: Reinventing Teaching
Professors, too, were forced to innovate. While some struggled with screen fatigue and engagement issues, others saw it as an opportunity.
“I redesigned my economics course with case studies on how the pandemic affected global trade,” said Dr. Pradeep Kumar from Bangalore University. “It made the subject more relevant and timely.”
To combat “Zoom fatigue,” several educators experimented with flipped classrooms — assigning reading material beforehand and using online sessions for discussions rather than lectures.
Still, many admitted missing the chalkboard. “I miss seeing students nod, ask questions, and even whisper at the back. Those things told me they were engaged,” said Professor Shalini Rao of St. Joseph’s College.
The Long-Term Impact
As restrictions gradually eased and colleges reopened in phased manners through 2021 and 2022, institutions took stock of what had changed.
Hybrid learning — once an emergency measure — is now here to stay. Many colleges retained some online lectures and e-resources, especially for guest lectures and revision classes. Faculty development programs now include digital pedagogy as a core module.
Importantly, the pandemic has sparked conversations around accessibility, digital equity, and mental health that may shape higher education in Karnataka for years to come.
In Retrospect
Looking back, the lockdown revealed both the strengths and vulnerabilities of Karnataka’s college system. It exposed a deep digital divide, tested students’ and faculty’s adaptability, but also catalyzed lasting innovations.
As Dr. Latha Krishnan reflects, “We were thrown into the deep end, but we learned to swim. That’s the legacy of the lockdown — resilience, reinvention, and renewed purpose.”
