Universities announce lectures are to be delivered online in bid to stop the virus spreading
Classroom teaching has been cancelled at London School of Economics and Durham University in a bid to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The Russell Group members are understood to be the first universities to have taken such measures in the UK.
On 12 March LSE confirmed that from Monday 23 March, all teaching for undergraduate and postgraduate courses will be delivered online for the rest of the academic year. Taught exams and assessments that were due to take place later this year will be carried out online instead and July graduation ceremonies will be rescheduled. However, the LSE campus and halls of residence will remain open.
“These actions are taken as a precaution and to provide clarity and reassurance to the LSE community in exceptional circumstances,” a spokeswoman said. “We will take any additional necessary steps, such as a campus closure, if we are advised to do so in the future.”
In an email to students, LSE director Minouche Shafik said the type of exams students take could change as a result of moving assessments online.
She added the university was exploring student visa implications as a result of moving classes online, and told PhD students that the university, “is taking steps to ensure that we support our doctoral students and that we mitigate any adverse effect on your research and wellbeing.” Shafik added that doctoral students would be updated “in due course about specific measures”.
Meanwhile, Durham University revealed that all classroom teaching would stop as of Monday 16 March. Instead of delivering lectures and seminars in person, academic staff are being asked to use “alternative modes of teaching” to deliver lectures until the end of term on 20 March.
Students have been given permission to leave Durham on 13 March and take part in classes remotely for the last week of term, while staff are being asked to work remotely, particularly those more vulnerable to the outbreak. However, the university will remain open and the library will not shut.
It comes after the number of people infected by the coronavirus in the UK jumped from 456 to 590 on 12 March in the biggest daily rise for the country so far. On the same day, the Irish government decided to close all schools and colleges to combat the coronavirus. Trinity College Dublin has already cut lectures and moved all teaching online in response to the pandemic.
Other universities around the world have already closed or switched to online-only teaching. In the US, Harvard University told its students not to return to campus after the spring break holiday, with classes set to move online. New York University is moving classes online as of 11 March.
The UK government is widely expected to step up its response to the coronavirus later today following an emergency Cobra cabinet meeting. It is thought that school and university closures could be part of the measures.
Manchester Metropolitan University—which introduced a travel ban for staff earlier in the week—has said that it will end face-to-face teaching by 23 March, the same time as the LSE restrictions take effect.