Bridge course a substitute for annual exams?

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While students of Classes I to IX in the state will not have any annual examinations this year owing to the virtual academic session held in the wake of the pandemic, the government is seemingly planning to conduct a bridge course for them in the first month of the next academic year, probably June.Though there has been no final decision, periodical meetings conducted by the general education department had strongly recommended a bridge course, a capsule form of subjects the students learnt in the previous academic year. 

Also, ‘First Bell’, the virtual classes of state syllabus, will be aired for students in Classes I to IX till March end. The department is looking into the possibility of extending them till April, sources said. “Since the government decided not to conduct the annual examinations, we are looking exploring the possibility of a bridge course which will help students warm up before the start of the new academic year. Classes in the next academic year could be offline,” said a senior officer with the education department.  Though online classes for Class X and XII are over, those for other standards will continue.  

As for primary sections, virtual classes are progressing in an elaborate manner and may be extended by another one-and-half months. Virtual classes for Class IX will be over by the second week of March. So far, KITE ( Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education) has developed and broadcast 6,600 videos as part of First Bell, amounting to over 3,300 hours of educational content. All educational videos are available on the First Bell website (firstbell.kite.kerala.gov.in).