Students will return to classes on Tuesday after 23 days of extended Sankranti vacation with the government deciding to open all educational institutions despite the COVID threat persisting.
After COVID cases started increasing government announced an early vacation for Sankranti from January 8 to 16, and later extended the same till January 30 due to further spurt in cases. All schools, colleges and universities would function from Tuesday apart from hostels connected to residential schools and colleges.
There was tremendous pressure on the government from the school managements while the government itself was worried that extended vacation would mean the learning capabilities of students would be impacted causing great damage to their future. Only a couple of months of teaching was possible in the last two years while online classes were held for several months though its reach was limited to urban areas and those who could afford it.
There are no specific guidelines issued this time but the government asked the schools and colleges to follow the COVID guidelines issued last year, including social distancing among children. Some schools have preferred staggered timings while some private colleges created new facilities for the time being to segregate the students.
Osmania University announced on Monday that it would conduct only online classes till February 12 and also asked all private affiliated colleges to follow suit. However, it changed its decision by evening and announced mandatory physical classes from Tuesday. The OU administration apparently was chided by the government for continuing online classes against the government’s intention.
Thousands of students belonging to social welfare residential schools and colleges have started returning to the hostels and officials expect full-fledged attendance after a few days as some parents are still apprehensive about the conditions in the hostels.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Recognised Schools Managements Association met Minister for Education Sabitha Indra Reddy on Monday and thanked her for opening the schools and also extending the exam fee date for 10th class.
TRSMA president Yadagiri Shekhar Rao and general secretary Sadula Madhusudan said the Minister asked them to focus on preparing the 10th class students for the public exams with special classes to make up for the academic days lost. The TRSMA appealed to the Minister to extend the academic year till the end of May to complete the syllabus in the interest of students.
Published - January 31, 2022 09:59 pm IST
