The Odisha government on Saturday announced the reopening of schools for Class 10 and Class 12 from July 26 following a fall in the number of COVID cases in the State.
The decision to reopen schools even though the State is still under different stages of lockdown appears to have been prompted by the inability to reach a majority of students through online modes of education.
Schools and colleges were shut down in the wake of the deteriorating COVID-19 situation in the State. Since the number of COVID-19 cases reported daily has gradually fallen, the reopening of schools has been allowed.
“Online classes, an alternative mode of education, were initiated due to COVID-19 pandemic. However, we have not been able to reach all students in the State. Due to poor mobile connectivity issues, the government has decided to reopen schools for Class 10 and 12 from July 26,” said Satyabrata Sahu, School and Mass Education Secretary.
According to the government, the number of students in Classes 10 and 12 is about 10 lakh. They are required to prepare seriously for all-India competitive examinations. The government has been able to reach out to only 40% of students, while the remaining 60% students are being deprived of lessons. These students had lost an average of 150 days in the previous academic session.
“To make students understand the link subjects and the reduced syllabus, it became imperative to reopen for them. A comprehensive standard operating procedure on COVID-19 appropriate behaviour will be issued,” Mr. Sahu said.
Classes other than 10 and 12 will continue through the online mode. Attending school will be optional and students may do so after consulting their parents. District Collectors will take the final decision on the reopening of schools, depending on the COVID-19 situation in their respective jurisdictions.
School hours have been scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1.30 p.m., which would enable students to have lunch at home.
“If the situation improves further, we are considering reopening school for Class 9 from August 16, and for Class 11 after September 15,” the School and Mass Education Secretary added.
Meanwhile, Odisha’s Board of Secondary Education is for the first time going to implement a “Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation System”, in which four formative assessments and two summative assessments will be conducted for Classes 9 and 10.
Parents and students have been asked to take all class examinations seriously. If the pandemic situation deteriorates, evaluation would be done on basis of these examinations.
The State will also hold an offline Matriculation examination between July 30 and August 5 for students who are dissatisfied with the alternative evaluation system.
About 6.30 lakh students had filled up forms for the 2021 Matriculation exam. Of them, 6.10 lakh students were declared as having passed based on an assessment of their performance in previously held class tests.
As many as 2,244 students have filled up forms for the offline examination for further improvement in their results in all subjects, and 15,115 students have applied for offline examinations in individual subjects.
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