The National Institute of Technology (NIT), in Durgapur, will conduct an on-campus “crash semester” for students who lack the basic connectivity required to attend online classes in the upcoming semester starting September.

The decision follows a survey among the institute’s 3,000-odd students on Internet accessibility. The survey revealed about 12 per cent students lack the basic connectivity.

The institute plans to start online classes in September and will offer 350-odd students the option of attending crash semester on the campus to make up for the theory classes they could miss out on.

“There is a possibility that some students will not be able to access the learning material online, because of the absence of reliable Internet or computing devices. For them a special crash semester will be conducted through conventional classroom lectures only when the situation allows,” said Anupam Basu, the NIT Durgapur director.

Another official said the students who would attend online classes, too, would have to be brought back to the campus for practical classes.