PANAJI: As the end of the current academic year nears, the directorate of education (DoE) has begun planning the schedule for the upcoming year 2021-22 and is, presently, looking to start the year from June 10, sources said.
Physical classes are still not on the cards for all school students due to the pandemic. Classes have been resumed only for students of Class IX to XII.
As the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education public exam will conclude on June 6, the DoE is considering starting the new academic year soon after, from June 10.
Students of lower classes, from Classes I to VIII and Class IX, will see their final exams for the current academic year end before April 24. Results will be declared soon after. Students of government and government-aided schools will proceed on summer break from April 30.
Teachers, however, are not agreeable to DoE’s plans to start the new academic year from June 10. The All Goa Secondary School Teachers’ Association has already officially requested the directorate to defer reopening to around June 25.
Teachers have said that while students will get the prescribed six weeks of summer vacation from April end upto the second week of June, teachers, especially those involved in the Class X and XII public exam work, will be left with no summer break at all.
“As per Rule 21(2)(V) of Goa Education Rule, 1986, at the end of the second term, there must be a summer vacation of six weeks. Since teachers are vocational staff, they do not get the benefit of sick leave and so teachers are entitled for the proper vacation period,” a teacher said.
Due to the pandemic delaying the previous academic year, teachers had to work through May 2020 and later Christmas and Diwali vacations were curtailed last year to make up for lost academic days, teachers said.