Amidst strong opposition to reopening of schools in the state while the coronavirus spread is still increasing, the state education department has proposed to start schools for 9th and 10th standard students from July. The government is expected to make an announcement regarding this very soon.
According to the timetable prepared by the school education department, classes for 9th, 10th and 12th standard students will start from July. Classes for 1st to 5th standard will resume from September and for 6th to 8th standard students, it will start from August.
After the results for 10th standard examinations conducted earlier are announced, the classes for 11th standard will be announced. Varsha Gaikwad, School Education Minister Varsha specified that the Uddhav Thackeray-led government will soon issue an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for online classes.
Some schools have started online schooling since June 1 while some are starting from June 15. The state education department proposal says, "While imparting digital education, the physical and psychological health should be considered and accordingly online sessions should be planned."
"Online classes should not be conducted for pre-primary, 1st and 2nd standard students. Schools should plan their online education in such manner that the online sessions should be only one hour long for students of third to the fifth standard, maximum two-hour-long for sixth to eighth standard students and three hours for ninth to 12th standard students," the proposal clearly states. Students should be given enough free time during the online sessions, it says.
TENTATIVE TIMETABLE
The timetable to be announced by the school education department is tentative in nature. Considering the local situation, schools should plan to restart their classes. The admission process should be made online or in case of the physical process ensure that social distancing norms are followed, the proposal says.
