Students Skeptical about the Self-Check System

By: Salma Abouelwafa
@salmaabouelwafa

Despite the university’s continued use of the self-check system to ensure campus safety, many students have told The Caravan that it does not help in protecting the community from the coronavirus because the details provided could be easily falsified.

Some students have voiced their concerns on different social media platforms and highlighted that the efficiency of the system is honor-based – depending on a person’s honesty in providing accurate information.

After returning to on-campus learning in fall 2021, AUC implemented a mandatory online self-check test in order to access campus. Regardless of their vaccination status, students, faculty and staff must show a green check at the gates to enter.

“I think it is a waste of time and does not provide any information for the university. One can easily choose to hide their symptoms or pretend to be sick to extend assignment deadlines,” Reem Tarek, a Business senior, said.

But some like Mohamed Roshdy, a Computer Engineering senior, believe that the university is aware that the system is flawed.

“I feel the university uses it to protect themselves from any allegation regarding the campus safety, and they do not want to hold any responsibility in the case that anyone got infected,” Roshdy told The Caravan.

University administration, however, stresses the importance of self-checking through constant emails and reminders sent to the community.

Ahmed Tolba, Associate Professor of Marketing and Chair of Management Department, who was part of the academic task force that helped shift the university back on campus, believes the system is necessary.

“Of course, maybe some people would fill the self-check in a way that would seem like they are safe to be on campus even though they aren’t,” Tolba told The Caravan.

However, the presence of the self-check will allow the ones who suspect they are sick to self-report and at the same time prevents whoever is sick not to be on campus and for their case to be tracked and ensure later on that they recovered.”

The self-check system is also being carried out in various institutions outside Egypt. Western Illinois University, for example, requires all students, employees, and guests to complete a self-check questionnaire before arriving on campus.

AUC faculty are also keen on implementing safety measures to ensure a smooth-running semester. However, a few instances in the past semester have raised questions regarding the reliability of the self-check system.

Mohamed Gameel, Adjunct Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, believes that some students may be responding to the self-check questions to be allowed on campus and rather than to identify and report their symptoms.

Gameel had to briefly shift online last semester after discovering that a student in one of his sections had entered campus despite knowing they had Covid-19.

Many students have privately told The Caravan that the main reason why they do not fill the self-check faithfully is to avoid losing track of their studies and missing out on assignments.

“I took a winter course, and the doctor told us in class that anyone who has Covid should report to the clinic and drop the course. I could not drop the course because I had a graduation plan, and this was going to disrupt the whole schedule,” student AS, who asked to remain anonymous, said.

Even though the self-check system raises some concerns for several students, Tolba stated that “100% accuracy is impossible” and that the self-check is one of the best ways to control any safety hazards as long as it is “coupled with support for the people who are sick and for the faculty who manage the process.”