Modi government plans to start the new session through online mode

The Modi government has decided to schedule and start 2020-21 academic sessions for schools from the first week of April through online classes. It is believed that if Covid-19 lockdown is lifted by mid-April then the government is also looking out to conduct the remaining board exams of classes 10 and class 12 in the first week of May. 

The secretary of Human Resource Development (HRD), Amit Khare told that the government is making arrangements to launch the new session online in the first week of April. The fresh academic sessions begin in the first week of April, but Covid-19 lockdown, which has led the schools and colleges around the country to shut down, the stoked fears of a delay this year. 

Also See: Cancelled or Postponed Exams due to the COVID-19 Crisis

The government has asked the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to keep an alternative academic calendar ready. “Classes will start online from the first week of April, to commence the new academic session. We will begin this process with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)-affiliated schools and states can join in gradually,” as said by Khare. 

As of now, some schools have already started their online classes. In order to start the online classes, schools are advised to follow the SWAYAM TV channels which are run by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), and HRD-operated portal that offers open-learning material for students at the pre-degree level. The channels, available on direct-to-home (DTH) networks, currently offer content for classes 9-12. The NIOS has been asked to add the content for junior classes as well. Some schools have already started developing content on their own and trying to make use of government platforms such as DIKSHA and the NCERT E-Pathshala, which are available on the apps and the websites. 

“We have already begun preparations to impart lessons through online mode to our students,” said Ashok Pandey, the director of Ahlcon Group of Schools in Delhi. “For that, we are first training our teachers because online teaching and learning is a very new concept. Our teachers need to be ready for that first,” he said.

This mode of teaching is also expected to help in launching the new academic sessions for all the students barring those in the classes 10-12, who are yet to finish their board exams.

Also See: KEAM 2020 Exam Postponed in view of the Coronavirus

Moreover, an alternative calendar for board exams is being prepared and almost ready. As soon as the lockdown is lifted, the government would start preparations to conduct the exams that had to be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Whereas the students of lower classes will be promoted to upper classes without sitting in the exam.