UNDERSTANDING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PANDEMIC PROTOCOL ADHERENCE AND NEED FOR PROTOCOL IMPROVEMENT IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

The COVID 19 pandemic has led to a significant shift in the culture of educational institutes. Online classes became the norm for a while, and leaving the confines of one's abode was met with trepidation. While it was essential to attend classes online, with the third wave of COVID 19 looming over the horizon, one has to consider the effectiveness of such an arrangement. There are some things online classes can't provide, and the dissonance t hat arises from the emergence of multiple formats of schooling is exacerbated by the reality that offline classes have been the predominant form of schooling in India for a long time. As such, certain sects of people may prefer one form to another. Offline classes also have other complications to consider. If classes were to be held offline, the current situation mandates the usage of N95 masks; staff and students alike are required to properly adhere to the protocol. This can in turn shed light on the need for protocol improvement. The goal of this paper is to identify the preferred mode of study and to correlate protocol adherence with improvement.