West Bengal govt announces virtual classes for students of class 9 to 12

With the suspension of classes due to coronavirus pandemic since March 16, West Bengal government on Friday announced one week long virtual classroom for students of higher classes of state-run schools from next week.

Education minister Partha Chatterjee told a press meet here that from April 7, during a particular time of the day, students from class 9 to 12 will sit before their TV sets and switch on the DD Bangla channel where in classroom atmosphere some well-known teachers will give lecture on particular subjects.

The students can also ask questions during the classes through the phone numbers given during the show and the mail id, as the government wants to make it interactive, the minister said.

He said as per the curriculum of the first summative exam in every school, students will have to submit home activity report during the period of suspension of classes till April 14 and submit the report once the school opens.

Model questions for the activity report can be downloaded from state school education department portal by teachers of respective institution and sent to students via Whatsapp, mail after modification by the concerned teacher if they think so, he said.

Chatterjee in reply to a question, said the exam schedule of the remaining two papers of Higher Secondary examination will be notified at the appropriate time.

“There have been reports of fake notices of dates of two remaining papers of higher secondary exams circulating on WhatsApp. Please don’t give any importance to such unverified wrong information. The council will announce the dates considering all factors after lockdown and put on its website,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations ( CISEC) Secretary and Chief Executive Gerry Arathoon asked the board-affiliated schools in the states, where the respective government has declared ‘no detention’ policy from classes 1 to 8 in state-run and state-aided schools, to follow the directive.

In view of the extraordinary circumstances due to COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown some state governments have issued directive to their schools “regarding promotion of all students from classes 1 to 8. You are hereby requested to follow the directive,” Arathoon said.

Chatterjee on Thursday said the government has asked all state-run, state-aided schools to enforce ‘no detention’ policy from classes 1 to 8 this year.

–PTI