HYDERABAD: Unsatisfied with the Telangana and Central government’s submissions regarding the conduct of online classes for private school students, a division bench of the Telangana High Court on Monday directed the State to come up with a definite stand on the issue. The bench pointed out that the State was dilly dallying the issue by making contradictory statements. On one hand, it states that it has not yet declared its academic session, and on the other it states that the Centre is encouraging private schools to hold online classes and they would abide by the guidelines issued by the Centre.
The PIL was filed by Hyderabad School Parents Association. Replying to a query from the bench, Special Counsel of Telangana A Sanjeev Kumar told the court that the government has not permitted any school to conduct online classes. A committee has been constituted to formulate a draft notification on the issue and a final notification is yet to be issued, he added.
Senior advocate Adinarayana Rao, appearing for some private and aided schools, submitted that there was no other way for the schools to have virtual teaching methods under the circumstances. Assistant Solicitor General (ASG) N Rajeshwar Rao, appearing for the Centre, said the content taught to CBSE students online would neither appear in the internal examination nor the final one as it has cut down the syllabus.
The main intention of the school seems to keep the child engaged as the State has not yet finalized its academic year, the bench observed. The bench directed the State and the Central government to file detailed counter affidavits on the issue and posted the matter to July 22 for further hearing.