Mumbai schools start the academic year through online classes

Multiple schools in Mumbai have already scheduled online classes that are to be conducted by the teachers. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has given a nod to the SOP submitted by the education department. As per the SOP, the department has proposed no online classes for up to class two students. Along with this, schools are also said to reopen in July in the COVID-19 free areas. The decision was taken in a video conference which was also attended by Varsha Gaikwad.

The school education department on Friday drafted an SOP for the schools to follow during the outbreak of the coronavirus. As per the SOP guidelines, online classes have been recommended. E-learning has been scheduled for higher classes. Since the approval had been pending before, the schools have done their own planning and arrangements. Furthermore, the Principal’s association had earlier asked the schools to wait for a couple of days more as they stated that the education officials have asserted to share the SOP within a few days. However, schools are not to reopen and teachers are to work from home until further instructions.

Last month, the Home Ministry guidelines stated that the educational institutions can be expected to reopen after July after acquiring full consultations with all the stakeholders and the health ministry. As per the Right to Education Act, school going students from class one to five, cannot be detained if they fail.

However, due to the contagious nature of the coronavirus, putting young students at risk can be avoided. While parents across the country seem hesitant about sending their children back to school due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, it will be crucial to see how schools maintain social distancing protocols to safeguard their students if educational institutions resume in all the states post the lockdown. As of now, around 290 million school going students are pursuing education at over 1.4 million schools. Educational institutions have been closed since the third week of March and are yet to resume.

At the moment, as part of recent developments, the Maharashtra government has exempted students up to class two from online teaching which applies to all boards across the state.