Since then, students have been gathering in big numbers to use the wireless internet within the university to attend online lectures. They gather at the colleges, halls of residence, and the main library.
Amos Byamugisha, a student from the school of Education explains that it is cheaper for him to attend online lectures from the university because he does not have money to buy data daily. He said he uses about Shs 3,000 in transport fares per day – way below what he would spend if he were to buy data.Â
Another student only identified as Carol from the college of Natural Sciences notes that there are members in her discussion groups without smartphones who come to attend lectures with the rest of the group. Besides, she hints that it is harder to concentrate when studying alone.Â
Mitatine Seize, a student from the college of Business and Management Sciences says that he commutes daily from home to have better concentration during the lectures. According to him, it is very easy to get disrupted at home during an online lecture that is not supervised.
Ever since the university adopted online lectures to enable students to continue studying during the lockdown, students have had to deal with challenges around meeting data costs and accessing devices like laptops for learning. A number of the students relied on the university Wi-Fi even during the lockdown.
While students are not allowed to access classrooms until next week, security officers are forced to disperse those in large groups who are not adhering to the Covid-19 standards operating procedures (SOPs).
