BENGALURU: Determined to get offline classes rolling soon, Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar is considering getting students of Classes 8 and 9 to physical classrooms from January 15, besides writing to all the legislators and district administrators to advise, instruct and guide officials of various departments on the resumption of Classes 10 and 12 from January 1.
While it was already decided to reopen offline classes for Class 11 from January 15 after keeping a close watch on the performance of reopening and conduct of Classes 10 and 12 from January 1, Kumar on Monday said he is now considering how it can be extended to Classes 8 and 9 too from January 15. But an official decision is yet to be taken.
Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar separately said, “I will have a meeting with Suresh Kumar to discuss the reopening of schools and PU colleges after the cabinet meeting. Covid cases and deaths have reduced and there is no need to panic.”
Suresh Kumar is seeking the coordination of all departments concerned to reopen the classes on the lines of successfully conducting the SSLC exam in the districts with Covid-19 safety protocols in place. The SOPs applied for holding the SSLC exam so impressed the Central authorities that the UPSC, too, has decided to adopt them for holding various exams.
Let’s follow SSLC example: Minister
In his letter to the MLAs, Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar stated that the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has suggested the guidelines and the high-level committee, headed by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, has given a green signal to reopen offline classes with local administrations taking care of the sanitisation and cleanliness of schools.
“Despite Covid, the SSLC exam was successfully held due to your support, and I seek it for the resumption of classes,” he said in his letter to legislators and ministers. “It is important to get our children back to learning by reopening schools, and it is not a programme for a day or a week. Throughout the academic year, the help that the schools require has increased,” he added.
He said the Vidyagama programme will also continue on the school premises, with students arriving in small groups. “Their protection should be given prime importance. It’s our duty to ensure that students feel as safe as they are at home,” he said.A healthy environment should be created by the district administrator and Zilla Panchayat CEO and necessary directions should be given to various department officials, he said.
Dept mulls reopening of govt schools
Suresh Kumar, during an interaction with educat-ionist V P Niranjan-aradhya, said he will consider the latter’s suggestion to reopen government schools with fewer students