No clarity on commencement of academic year, say schools in Mumbai

Even as the state education department had earlier announced that academic year 2020-21 would begin from June 15 (Monday), confusion prevails over the reopening

Even as the state education department had earlier announced that academic year 2020-21 would begin from June 15 (Monday), confusion prevails over the reopening of schools, as with the state government did not issue any circular or a directive pertaining to the matter.

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Till the time of going to press, the state education department did not release any official communication to schools on the commencement of classes – be it online or offline.

While state education minister Varsha Gaikwad did not respond to HT’s calls and messages, a senior official from the department said the standard operating procedures (SOPs) submitted to the state contain details of reopening, which they would be made public after government’s approval. “Meanwhile, teachers can go to school and work on creating e-content for online classes,” said the official.

“We have absolutely no clarity on what the government wants us to do. As circular is issued in the matter, we asked teachers to try and come once a week on a rotational basis and do some work related to the creation of learning content in the school. But we can’t pressurise teachers to come, especially considering the lack of transport options available to them,” said Prashant Redij, spokesperson of the Mumbai Principals Association.

While some schools are planning to start a few online classes from Monday, they framed their own schedules in the absence of instructions.

“We are currently planning to teach for two hours a day until the government gives us clear instructions,” said the principal of a suburban school.

On May 31, education department officials said that though schools in the state would not start anytime soon, the new academic year would begin on June 15. This meant that online learning would begin in places where students have access to technology and in other parts of the state, modes such as TV, Radio and physical delivery of learning material shall be explored to continue learning. On June 12, the education department recommended schools to follow the SOPs on school reopening and conducting online classes. As per the SOPs, students of Class 3 - Class 5 can only be asked to attend online classes for upto an hour a day, while those from Class 6 - Class 8 can be asked to attend upto two hours a day. Students of Class 9 – Class 12 can be asked to attend online teaching sessions for a maximum of three hours a day. The SOPs stated that in July, areas which did not report a single Covid-19 case can start reopening schools.