BHUBANESWAR: With children not having attended a single day of class in school in the current academic session owing to the educational institutions being shut amid the pandemic and online classes not accessible to all, educationists and parents are in favour of shifting of the scholastic session to next year.
They have suggested to the government to start the current academic session afresh in 2021 in the wake of the syllabus not being covered and with uncertainty over the conduct of the examinations.
“There is no alternative other than moving the academic year forward. I fail to understand as to how can the Odisha government be so sure of things returning to normal from January and starting physical classes. Doctors have already alerted all to the possibility of a second wave of Covid-19 in December. The school syllabus may be covered through intensive teaching for three months without any holidays. One year has already been wasted, so the government might as well shift the academic year to 2021,” Kamala Prasad Mohapatra, an educationist, said.
The situation is particularly difficult for students of higher classes as they cannot have all their doubts clarified through online classes. “My son completed his matriculation in an Odia medium school. In Plus II science, the medium of study is English. Not only are the subjects are tough, but the medium of instruction and learning has also changed. He is facing great difficulty in understanding the chapters. I don’t mind him repeating a year instead of being promoted to a higher class without proper understanding of the subject,” Sampad Kumar Mallick, whose son studies in Rajdhani College, said. Sources said the state government was also against conducting the exam this year and starting the academic year afresh in 2021, but was in a fix as the Centre has not taken any decision on the same.
“If the state shifts the academic year, it may affect the career of lakhs of students. The state’s decision should be in line with that of the Centre so that children are not affected,” Samir Ranjan Dash, the state’s school and mass education minister, said.