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School authorities rue govt’s decision of untimely holidays
Director of Anand Isher Senior Secondary Public School, Kartar Singh, said the government should not have hastily taken this decision without any prior information; He added, “We lost out on holidays homework, parent teacher meet and other assignments; Moreover, private schools can cater to the needs of the students in this scorching heat;” He also mentioned that after changing the school timings, an untimely break was not required
Teachers and school heads in the district did not welcome the latest announcement of untimely holidays by education department for students.
Teachers of private schools are being made to conduct online classes while the students are appearing for their unit tests in an online mode, which teachers believe, is of no use and poses an additional burden on them.
JP Bhatt, general secretary of the Joint Action Front Punjab, a union of private schools, said that the announcement of holidays before the pre-decided date would impact the performance of the students. “There are many small private schools running in the outer regions and those students are mainly the children of migrant labourers. Both of their parents work and they leave their kids at around 8 in the morning in the school till late afternoon. They already know the schedule of summer vacations and have made arrangements for their children accordingly but these untimely holidays have created problems for them,” he added.
Bhatt further mentioned that the department should have consulted with schools before taking the decision. “We did not provide them any homework yet, neither could the activities be completed. Even if schools conduct online classes, not everyone has access to smartphones. And what about the students living in the areas where temperature normally is 45-50 degree celsius? Do those kids never go to schools?,” he questioned.
Director of Anand Isher Senior Secondary Public School, Kartar Singh, said the government should not have hastily taken this decision without any prior information. He added, “We lost out on holidays homework, parent teacher meet and other assignments. Moreover, private schools can cater to the needs of the students in this scorching heat.” He also mentioned that after changing the school timings, an untimely break was not required.
A private school teacher, on the condition of anonymity, said they were still conducting online classes for students. “We are being called to the school daily and are conducting unit tests in an online mode, which does not serve the purpose,” the teacher said.
Due to schools being off, all projects, including Mission Samarth and Business Blasters are halted in government schools and the directions for their continuation after the holidays have not been issued. Principal of a government school, wishing not to be named, said the holidays had also affected enrolments of the schools.
