Eyewitness: Sydney students are sinking in lockdown

From an essay by Goetz Richter, Associate Professor for violin performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music:

… Recent pandemic fears Down Under have seen the imposition of restricted movement and gathering. While the government has not mandated closure of educational institutions and allows people to travel to their work places when work cannot be accomplished at home, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music closed its doors categorically, ostensibly for the safety and protection of “our community”- a suitably vague reason to justify doing nothing for a while.

… What are the results of the rigid closure of the Conservatorium in Sydney? Well, I do need to qualify. The building is somewhat accessible for staff to collect stuff or conduct work which cannot be done otherwise. In that, the Conservatorium is in agreement with its University where the main library can be accessed and work that cannot be done otherwise at home can be done with swipe card access to relevant spaces by students and academics. However, let’s spare a thought for the students at the Conservatorium. Many of them genuinely cannot practice at home either because their four flatmates, five brothers or six sisters are having simultaneous zoom meetings trading in bitcoin, watching soccer or talking to their PhD supervisor. In such closed environments, hospitality noise for four or five hours a day is just not tolerable. Students, particularly international or interstate students, also may not have a relevant instrument at their disposal. Whatever the issue- they remain locked out!…

Read on here.