The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) wants to reopen upper primary classes (classes VI to VIII) immediately and start Vidyagama programme for lower primary classes (classes I to V).
Officials plans to bat for this at a meeting on Friday with the COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). This decision was taken following representations from parents and school managements.
Schools in Karnataka have been reopening in a phased manner. While classes X and second-year pre-university began on January 1, classes IX and I PU began on February 1.
“We have not received any reports of spread of COVID-19 infection on school campuses. Therefore we will ask the committee to allow us to run classes for upper primary classes as well,” said V. Anbu Kumar, Commissioner for Public Instruction.
Several academicians have pointed out that the learning levels of students in primary classes have been adversely affected. Azim Premji University, on Wednesday, had released a field study stating that primary schools students not only missed out on regular curricular learning that they would have acquired had schools remained open, but were also ‘forgetting’ what they had learned the previous year.
