Remote learning is detrimental to the university and individual development – believes the rector of the University of Silesia in Katowice, Prof. Ryszard Koziołek. Despite the difficult epidemic situation, he decided that after the Christmas break students returned to the university.
Many students oppose this. They drew attention to the significant number of infections in the region. For many weeks in the Silesian voivodeship, one of the highest daily numbers of new coronavirus infections has been recorded. Moreover, students point out that classrooms are too small and there is no possibility to respect the distance rules.
The case reached the Voivodeship Administrative Court when the Kogutorium association, which considers its main goal to be “supporting the education system through social supervision and ad hoc interventions,” requested from the university authorities, through the procedure of access to public information, data on the percentage of vaccinated students based on a survey conducted at the university. When a response was not forthcoming, Kogutorium filed a complaint with the Voivodeship Administrative Court.
The university released the information shortly thereafter, and its rector sent a letter to the academic community saying that by the traditional university he meant “the institution and infrastructure that create the space and conditions for the work and continuance of a community of scholars, students and staff bound by academic values, laws, and practices”.