SHILLONG, Dec 15: In view of the Christmas festival and winter break, the State Education department has notified that the academic session shall be closed from December 21 and would reopen on January 11.
In a notification on Tuesday, Principal Secretary, Education Department, DP Wahlang said that the Adjusted Academic Calendar (AAC) for all classes except those appearing for Board examinations in 2021 has been revised.
Schools will close for winter break from December 21 and reopen from January 11 upto March 10. This period will include lesson transaction, assignments, on-line interaction, counselling, etc.
Final examination/assessment will be from March 11-20 while the term break will be from March 21-31. The new academic session (2021-22) would commence from April 1 next year.
Classes 9-12 will fully reopen in both urban and rural areas for completion of courses and preparation of the Board examination 2021.
Classes 6-8 will fully open in rural areas and partially open in urban/semi urban towns of Shillong, Jowai, Nongpoh, Tura, Byrnihat, Jorabat and Khanapara. The partial opening entails only consultations, assignments submission and discussion with teachers/counselors in the school premises.
Classes 1-5 will partially open in rural areas and remain closed in urban/semi urban towns.
The generic preventive measures which are to be followed include mandatory parental consent for attendance.
The school managing committee shall consult with the stakeholders (parents, district health officials and local community) prior to reopening of any category of classes.
The school authorities are empowered to take any decision pertaining to closure of schools in an event of any suspected COVID-19 cases in consultation with Health officials.
The school authorities are also empowered to design a daily plan and restrict the duration of classes to 30 minutes and a break of 5 minutes after each period.
A blended approach of 3 days of school attendance and 2 days for home assignments may also be considered to reduce the exposure.
