Primary schools were ordered to shut last week

Switching to virtual learning, cancelling exams, revising the academic calender — schools across the capital are finding ways to ensure learning doesn’t suffer as they down shutters till the end of the month. On Thursday, the Delhi government directed all schools to remain closed till March 31 as a precaution against the Covid-19 pandemic. The only exception is in cases where exams are being conducted.

Last week, the government had ordered the closure of all primary schools in the capital till the end of the month.

On Thursday, The British School informed parents that it will commence virtual learning from Friday till March 31. It has suspended bus services and all services within the campus, in addition to asking its staff to work from home. Students of the primary section had already been introduced to this virtual system when their classes were suspended. This has now been extended to secondary level students as well, who will now be taught through Microsoft Teams — a collaboration software.

At The Indian School, the management has decided to cancel the remaining exams for students from classes VI to VIII. “The students of these classes were just left with one or two exams and in any case, the no-detention policy applies to them so we took the decision to conclude their final examinations and their academic year now itself,” said principal Tania Joshi.

The school has been designing and sending worksheets for different subjects every few days to pre-primary and primary students to keep them in touch with their learning.

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Many schools complete class IX and XI final examinations early so that students can begin their classes for their board years in March. However, these have been put on hold because of the precautionary measures.

“We will lose teaching time due to this. We will have to consider other options, including the possibility of conducting classes during the summer break,” said Sanghamitra Ghosh, principal of Mother’s International School.

However, some schools such as Springdales, Pusa Road, have decided to complete the remaining exams for classes VI to IX and XI. “In the case of students in primary and pre-primary sections, we have told parents to use this time to build up inter-personal relationships with the children, especially since many parents will also be working from home at this time,” said principal Ameeta Wattal.

Last week, the government had ordered the closure of all primary schools in the capital till the end of the month. (Express photo/Amit Mehra)

While Delhi government schools are still in the midst of their internal exams, the bulk of the primary schools are run by the municipal corporations.

A teacher at a North MCD school said they have not received any direction to keep children engaged. However, the head of an East MCD school said they are keeping students in touch with their studies through WhatsApp groups. “We have told students to study on their own and clarify doubts on the class WhatsApp groups. We have also created a separate group for those students who perform well academically and are sending them practice papers to prepare for class VI entrance exams in the Pratibha Vikas Vidyalayas,” said the school head.