pune the students association of punebased ftii has sought immediate suspension of online classes for the 2020 batch students saying that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to attend classes due to the challenges posed by the coronavirus crisisthe ftii students association fsa has also sought a meeting with the institutes chairman shekhar kapur to express their concernsthe film and television institute of india ftii administration however said that online classes are going on only for one batch and many students are attending the classes and demanded that they should continueit also made it clear that online classes will continue to be held for the duration they are plannedin a release the fsa said we are witnessing an exponential increase in cases each day and people are struggling to avail medical facilities ftii administration has been enforcing mandatory online classes for the newly admitted 2020 batch studentsit said that the students raised concern over the online medium of education but the ftii administration has made it mandatory for the students to attend online classes which is in violation of the attendance criteria mentioned in the ugc guidelines for online classesftii chairman mr shekhar kapur is reluctant to meet us and has given us a date 11 days later from now for a meeting to discuss our urgent concerns we are sad and concerned to state that students faculties staff members and families are getting affected not just by covid19 but also by financial and mental health issues associated with it it saidthe students are from different parts of the country and it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to attend classes amid this health crisis the release addedthe fsa demanded that the ftii chairman should meet them at the earliest and understand the concerns in view of the devastating phase of the pandemic to bring in an immediate suspension of the online classesmeanwhile ftii director bhupendra kainthola said online classes are on only for the 2020 batch and many students are attending the classes and have asked that the classes should continue connectivity and other issues are there but still students are regular in their classes and in direct contact with their teachersftii administration is also helping the students for instance in the case of a student from kargil on the request of ftii the ladakh administration is facilitating the student with venue and connectivity he saidin case students miss a lecture or a session a review or recap session is planned on saturdaysteachers are also ready to help them on phone or email when on campus a recap or review of these online sessions would also be made the director addedftiis academic and governing councils have discussed the matter and directed the institute to continue with online classes for the benefit of those students who are interested so the online classes will continue for the duration they are planned he said