Teachers feel curtailing syllabus will harm students

Panaji: The Higher Secondary Teachers Association of Goa (HISTAG) on Thursday stated that reopening the schools in the month of August or September and curtailing the school syllabus would be largely disadvantageous to the students, especially those studying in class X and class XII.

HISTAG president Anant Pissurlekar told ‘The Navhind Times’ that the entire syllabus of SSC and HSSC is very important for students, as this curriculum prepares them for higher classes, namely higher secondary classes and under-graduation classes, respectively.

“As it is not advisable to reduce the syllabus, I feel that the government should immediately allow the teachers to hold classes in schools by inviting small groups of students and following all corona-related guidelines, including maintaining social distancing, wearing masks and using sanitisers,” he added.

Pissurlekar also observed that holding classes in schools under strict supervision is easily possible, as the SSC examination was conducted in the month of May in a similar manner. 

Meanwhile, raising questions over the need to call the school teachers to their schools “so abruptly” when the number of COVID-19 cases is increasing in the state and furthermore, the students are prevented from coming to schools, HISTAG demanded that the government follows the national guidelines, which encourages working from home.

“The government should rethink on its decision to call the teachers to school, and come out with a solution, which involves the safety of the students and the teachers,” it added, observing that forcing teachers to visit schools for online teaching will definitely affect quality of online teaching.

The statement released by the HISTAG further said that the teachers have worked hard during the vacations for assessment, supervision and door-to-door survey as also attended e-learning training.

“All teachers are not techno savvy especially the senior ones, who are on the verge of retirement,” the statement said, pointing out that even then the teachers have tried their level best in using technology and latest software to conduct online classes. “It should be noted that preparing one online lecture means spending four working hours for this preparation,” it noted.

The HISTAG suggested that distribution of books etc could be done by calling limited number of staff to school as and when required.

“Almost all the higher secondary teachers have acquired laptop, hotspot and WiFi connection at their residence to facilitate e-learning and have been working honestly from home without any single complaint other than that of the connectivity problems,” the HISTAG statement observed, maintaining that even though the teachers never asked government for any support to acquire the online teaching material and gadgets, the government has now ordered them to report to schools for online teaching. “Many schools are located in interior areas and have no network,” it pointed out.

The HISTAG observed that the decision of the government to call so many teachers to work from schools without having students in the absence of proper transport and other facilities is very surprising and appears to have been taken without giving a second thought.

“The teachers cannot be compared to other government servants whose services are necessarily required in their respective offices,” it concluded.