Newly appointed district inspector of schools (DIOS), Gautam Budh Nagar, Dharam Vir Singh told TOI that pending issues of parents from the city schools which have remained unaddressed during the Covid-19 lockdown will now be opened for discussion. The new DIOS has also urged schools to consider parents’ convenience while deciding examination formats.
Excerpts from interview:
The district fee regulation committee has not met for months. Will you restart them?
There has been a long gap since the district fee regulation committee (DFRC) met. The lockdown and a disruption of school systems together led to some irregularities. We will restart these meetings.
Some schools have prevented students from online classes or removed them from WhatsApp groups for non-payment of fees. Some parents have also gone to the court.
Parents have flagged their issues with many schools preventing students from taking final examinations as they have not been able to pay fees during the lockdown. We have responded to the queries of the Allahabad High Court according to the government orders.
There is a lot of confusion about when schools will reopen, whether examinations will be held online or offline.
There is a clear directive about senior classes that all students from Classes 9-12 will have to go to the school. For pre-boards examination, schools can opt for any format, with parents’ consensus. Orders about other classes are awaited. Schools will have to follow all Covid-19 safety protocols. For any decision, schools will have to take parents along while deciding.