Online class option shelved: Delhi schools to focus on learning gaps

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that schools will fully switch to offline classes from April 1, when the next academic session begins.

For the first time since the pandemic began, schools in the national capital will discontinue online classes and revert to only physical in-person classes from April 1 -- a longstanding demand by city schools which claim that the hybrid model followed in the last two years has led to gaps in teaching-learning.

Schools will fully switch to offline classes from April 1. (Sanchit Khanna/HT)

The decision to phase out online classes was taken during the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting on Friday, following which Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that schools will fully switch to offline classes from April 1, when the next academic session begins.

While schools in the Capital reopened for physical classes in all grades in November last year, they closed amid a spike in Covid cases in December. Physical classes resumed once again earlier this month.

Welcoming the change, Sudha Acharya, the chairperson of the National Progressive Schools’ Conference (NPSC), that has over 120 Delhi schools as members, said the prolonged continuation of online classes has adversely impacted students’ skills and competencies.

“The reading and writing skills of students had weakened in the absence of in-person classes in the last two years; schools can focus on rectifying this now,” she said.

She also said that the decision will ease the workload on teachers as they had to manage both offline and online classes. “Teachers are overburdened with online and offline teaching and assessment. Teachers’ mental health and well-being are of utmost importance for us to deliver quality education and create a happy and joyful environment in schools,” said Acharya.

She, however, said that the government could have discontinued online classes in March itself so that the period could have been utilised for bridging learning gaps before the onset of the next academic session. “Children from nursery to Class 8 have huge learning gaps. In March, we could have focused our efforts towards bridging that gap so that children would have been ready for the next grade in April,” she said.

The view is shared by other school officials.

Bharat Arora, general secretary, Action Committee of Private Unaided Schools, a consortium of private schools, too said schools were prepared for a complete return to offline classes from March. “We request the DDMA to allow for full offline mode of instruction from March 1, instead of April 1. This will not only allow schools to resume classes smoothly but will also allow students and parents to regain the confidence before the new session begins,” said Arora.

Sukhbir Singh Yadav, principal of Government Co-ed Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Sector 21, Rohini, and president of Vice and Principals’ Association of Delhi, said that the turnout in his school stayed above 90% on most days since schools reopened this month. “This shows that most children had returned to school and were in favour of offline classes. When most children have already started coming to school, there is no point of holding online classes. The decision of doing away with online classes is good since it was only putting an additional burden on teachers,” said Yadav.

Nikhil Jain (17), a Class 12 student in Yadav’s school, said most students had returned to school for physical classes. “At the beginning of the pandemic, many students, including me, struggled because I did not have a phone. However, since offline classes were resumed earlier this month, I have been going to school,” said Jain.

Parent groups in the city too welcomed the decision to resume offline classes from April even as they sought a resumption of bus services for students. “We welcome the decision and hope that guidelines regarding the bus service will also be shared with parents soon,” said Aprajita Gautam, president, Delhi Parents Association.