KOLKATA: While the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has requested chief minister Mamata Banerjee to reopen schools from January 4, several Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) in Bengal, affiliated to the CBSE, have reverted to online classes after reopening their campuses for “doubt-clearing sessions” without the state government’s permission. Students, as a result, have been left confused.
“Many of us could not attend online classes. We also have not been able to write our pre-board exams. Now, if we take the HS Exam without ever attending the practical classes, it will be a disaster. We hope that some doubt-clearing sessions and practical classes will be conducted before the board exams are announced,” said Kritee Dey, a Class-XII student of KBR Girls’ High School.
Kritee’s views are echoed by Supratik Pal of Howrah Zilla School. The Class-XII student said: “Online classes couldn’t clear our doubts. Moreover, we couldn’t take the test exam and could not assess our preparation. So far as practical classes are concerned, we are yet to know the results of many experiments which are necessary for higher studies,” Pal said.
In October, a Kendriya Vidyalaya had held a meeting with parents and sent online consent forms to guardians of students of classes IX and XII seeking their opinion on holding physical classes. A timetable was drawn up to hold doubt-clearing sessions. But after the Puja vacations, the state government had instructed all schools to keep their campuses closed. “Thus, we also went back to the online classes. Now, we are waiting for further instructions from the state,” said the principal of the school.
CISCE-affiliated schools are, however, eagerly waiting for a nod from the state government. “We have already purchased no-contact temperature guns, we also have ordered for hand sanitizers to be fixed at several points. These apart, we have also bought hundreds of masks which we can distribute to the students,” said the principal of Ram Mohan Mission School, Sujoy Biswas. He added that along with the SOPs provided by the centre, the schools are also waiting for the directives from the state government.