Over 32 lakh students of Classes 1 to 7 to be promoted minus exams
The state govt has already allowed schools to reopen for classes 8 and above from March 1; guardians’ body demands vaccination of school staff before resuming classes
Like the previous academic session, more than 32 lakh government school students of classes 1 to 7 might be promoted without taking examination, as lockdown triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic badly hit academic activities, officials said on Monday.
Schools in Jharkhand are closed since March last year due to the coronavirus outbreak. Even though the state government has permitted to restart schools for classes 8 and above from March 1, the decision for resuming junior classes is yet to be taken.
In the last academic session (2019-2020), students of these classes had been promoted without any examination in wake of the lockdown that had come into effect from March 22 in Jharkhand,
two days before the announcement of national lockdown.
In a bid to compensate the academic loss of students, the state school education and literacy department is, however, planning to conduct special classes for students.
Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC) is drawing a strategy to promote students and make up for the academic loss during the Covid year. The council is in touch with states like Chattisgarh and Bihar, which are working on a similar kind of plan, officials said.
State Programme Officer (SPO) at JEPC Abhinav Kumar said, “A discussion in this regard is going on. However, no final decision has been taken yet.”
“Schools have not reopened yet and conducting examinations in such a situation is not possible. Therefore, instead of examination, a plan for baseline assessment of students is being discussed,” he said.
The baseline assessment will help analyse the learning standard of students during Covid period and identify students who incurred major academic loss. “When schools reopen, special classes for students who faced academic loss could be planned for the first two to three months. The basic principles and important topics of the previous classes would be taught to students,” he said.
Jharkhand had allowed schools for classes 10 and 12 to reopen from December 21 last year in view of the upcoming board examinations, which will begin in May this year.
Recently on February 18, the state government also permitted to resume classes 8, 9 and 11 from March 1 with certain Covid precautions. Students would be allowed to go to schools only after written consent from guardians.
However, the guardians’ body has demanded Covid vaccination of teaching and non-teaching staff, bus drivers and helpers before reopening of schools.
President of Jharkhand Parents’ Association Ajay Rai, who is also general secretary of Federation of Parents’ Association, said, “The way health workers and front line workers are being administered Covid vaccine, all teachers, bus drivers and helpers in schools should also be vaccinated. The issue is related to students’ safety, as cases are rising in few states again.”