BENGALURU: Amidst growing concern over children’s academic well-being due to multiple lockdowns, summer vacations have been shortened for school students by more than two weeks. Summer vacations will start on April 10 and end on May 15, a circular released by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) on Thursday stated.
The 2021-2022 academic year will end on April 9, and the 2022-23 academic year will begin on May 16, for both primary and secondary schools. The circular said that the decision was taken to launch a ‘Learning Recovery Programme’, to make up for the academic loss due to multiple lockdowns.
“The learning in schools has been impeded due to the closing of schools during the academic years 2019 to 2022. Though education has been offered through alternative channels like online classes, this approach does not make up for the loss of learning in schools,” the circular said.
Earlier, academic years were from May 29 to April 10, with summer vacations from April 11 to May 28. The department states that the academic year must have a minimum of 220 school days, including appropriate allotment for extracurricular activities.
Also, the department has said that annual exams for the academic year 2021-22 will be held in accordance with the curriculum completed at the school level.
A separate circular on school annual activities will be issued for 2022-23, and the ‘Learning Recovery Programme’ or Setu Bandha/Bridge Courses, will be implemented to help students overcome the learning gap.