Explore ways to teach students in small groups amid pandemic: CM
LUCKNOW : Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said government primary school teachers should explore the possibilities of forming small groups of students and start teaching them in villages at a time when nobody knows when schools in the state will reopen especially in view of the probable third Covid wave.
He also said online classes had their own challenges especially for those poor students who do not have devices like smartphones or laptops, leave alone internet connectivity.
The onus was now on the newly appointed teachers to provide quality education to them, the chief minister added.
Yogi said, “We cannot allow teaching and learning to get hampered due to prolonged closure of schools because of pandemic. People will never forgive us if we are not able to impart education to students in this trying situation. Ultimately, it’s the taxpayers’ money that is being used. Teachers have to find out ways and means to impart quality education.”
The chief minister expressed these views while distributing appointment letters to 6,696 assistant teachers at an event held at Lok Bhavan.
This observation by the chief minister is in contrast to the demand made by all private school associations for reopening of schools.
A meeting of all the private school associations of Uttar Pradesh was held on Lucknow on Friday to address various problems related to private schools like closure of schools for almost 500 days, various discrepancies of the RTE (Right to Education) Act and the proposal of bringing private schools under RTI (Right to Information) Act.
Kulbhushan Sharma, president, National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA), said that UP was a pioneer in dealing with Covid-19, but while states like Bihar, Punjab and Haryana opened their schools, it was ironic that Uttar Pradesh schools were still closed.
Anil Agarwal, president, Unaided Schools Association, said discussions can solve the most complex of problems.
“We want to convince the authorities about our problems and issues in a peaceful, democratic manner,” he said.