With online classes resuming from Monday after a week’s break, schools are weighing their options with regard to calling students of Classes 10, 11 and 12 to campus from October 1.
A recent government order passed to this effect had stated that a proposal submitted by the School Education Department for permitting students of Classes 10 to 12 to visit campus for guidance sessions had been accepted by the State government. From October 1, schools are permitted to have students and teachers on campus, in batches, and have been asked to adhere to a host of safety measures, in view of COVID-19.
“Since parents and students might be hesitant to come to school for clearing doubts, we are considering giving students the option of coming to school and writing the mid-term exams, scheduled for October. For students who do not wish to come to school, we can hold it online, as planned,” said Ashok Shankar, secretary, CBSE Schools’ Management Association. He said that many schools were expecting parents to be hesitant to send their students to schools, even for short sessions. “This is why online classes will continue as per schedule,” he added.
To address the concerns that parents might have, schools have already started sending them survey forms to get an idea of the queries they might be having. They have also been reaching out to them through virtual meetings.
“We’ve already encouraged teachers to speak to parents of senior school students in particular, and make them aware of the safety precautions we will be putting in place, such as enforcing of physical distancing norms and making mask wearing compulsory,” said N. Vijayan, senior principal, Zion Group of Schools.
Mr. Vijayan said the number of batches the students are to be divided into and a schedule for those wishing to come to school for clearing doubts would be decided based on the response from students and parents over the next two days. “These sessions can also be live-streamed as part of their online classes,” he added.
With the State government setting a limit on the number of online sessions a school can hold in a day, teachers said they were becoming anxious about completing portions for classes that had to take up the board exam next year.
“For those students in particular, these guidance sessions will be useful, and these can effectively supplement their online classes. The decision, however, ultimately rests on the parents,” the principal of a school in Chennai said.
The State government has also specified that students can come to school only after they get a consent form signed by their parents or guardians.
Clarity on syllabus
Government schools, however, are still awaiting clarity and further instructions. Patric Raymond, president of the Tamil Nadu Graduate Teachers’ Association, said that so far, government schoolchildren had access to classes only through Kalvi TV.
“Since there are no full-fledged online classes, guidance sessions might not be very useful at this stage. We first want clarity on the syllabus reduction proposed by the government and the academic schedule for the rest of the year,” he said. Many teachers like him also stressed on the need to reach out and speak to the parents and students, in advance, before any sort of activity on campus begins, since schools have remained shut since March.