School Summer Break Likely to be Shifted, Institutions Asked to Start Online Lessons Due to Covid-19

New Delhi: In an effort to minimise the loss of academic days in the 2020-12 session due to coronavirus crisis in the country, the central government is planning to ask schools, universities and higher education institutions to reschedule the academic calendar by advancing the summer break.

According to a report in Times of India, a panel under University Grants Commission (UGC) is likely to suggest the start of online classes for higher education institutions (HEIs) during lockdown and issuance of a guideline for pending semester/term-end exams. The commission is expected to submit the suggestion to the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) on Monday.

Sources told News18 that schools and higher education institutions will be asked to start online classes and keep aside critical, practical lessons for a later time when students can attend classes in person. The possibility of conducting online examinations is also being discussed, the sources said.

“There is a possibility the lockdown period from April 1 will be considered the summer break. So probably by mid or third-week of May, academic activities may restart,” an official was quoted as saying by TOI.

Several schools in Delhi and NCR have already begun remote learning for their students by implementing online classes system.

On Friday, the Punjab government preponed summer vacations of all schools in the state, hours after it extended the lockdown to fight coronavirus up to May 1. Now the one-month summer break will start from April 11 and end on May 10, Education minister Vijay Inder Singla said.

The decision was taken to compensate the academic loss being faced by students due to the lockdown. The summer vacation in the state usually starts by the end of May.

The education minister said the cabinet has also decided to promote Class 5 and 8 students of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) based on examinations conducted before the curfew was imposed in the state. He said, "All private schools should also start vacations from April 11 but they are free to extend the period as per their requirement."

Class 5 students had two papers remaining, while practical exams of Class 8 students were pending. The board will declare the results without conducting any further test for both the classes, the minister said.