SHILLONG: The state government will decide on reopening schools only after the Centre takes a final call on the lockdown which is scheduled to end on May 3.
Speaking to newsmen here on Wednesday, Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said, “We have a plan to start the academic year, but as of now we cannot tell when”.
He said that the state would have to wait and see what lies after May 3 and the decision of the Centre regarding the green, orange and red zones.
Expressing hope that the situation will take a turn for better, Rymbui said that the government plans to reopen schools in a phased manner and people should have the courage to send their children to school.
“We will act taking into consideration the health of the students”, he said.
On evaluation of the SSLC and HSLC papers, Rymbui said that the exercise has already started for Class X. He also said the government will try to complete the remaining examination of Class XII in the last week of May.
To a query whether the state government will consider passing the students of the internal exams as was done by CBSE, Rymbui said that the academic calendar of the state differs from them as the end of their academic year coincides with the start of the academic session here.
On the mid-day meal scheme, the minister informed that the Union HRD Minister has already said that mid-day meal would be provided even during the winter. He said that the allotment for each student has been increased by 10 per cent.
He said the government has also requested to increase the honorarium of the cooks.
Online teaching
Rymbui regretted that majority of students from rural areas do not have the resource for online teaching and are not ready for it.
He maintained that online teaching does not and will never be a substitute for classroom teaching,
Rymbui added that connectivity is the first reason and secondly 90 per cent students from rural areas are not mentally prepared for the drastic change as they do not have the medium for it. He, however, said that many schools in urban and semi- urban areas are taking to online teaching, which is a healthy trend.
Rymbui said that the government has informed that during this time the online platform for students could be used as it has made available the content of all the text books of MBoSE from Class 9 to Class 12 and other materials for students if needed.
Informing that the state government is trying to utilise All India Radio and Doordarshan to teach the students, Rymbui admitted that there are constraints and online teaching is just a supplement to what is to be taught in school.
It may be mentioned that the state government has initiated e- learning programme and many schools, mostly from urban areas, have registered themselves.
However, there were reports that most of the rural lot is facing difficulties to avail the facilities as many do not have smart phones while connectivity is yet another challenge.
