Schools classes to be held in winter and second Saturday holidays: Govind Singh Thakur

Shimla: Education Minister Govind Singh Thakur chaired the meeting organized through video conferencing here today with various experts and stakeholders on the report of the committee constituted by Himachal Pradesh School Education Board Dharamshala for 30 percent reduction in the syllabus of current academic session. Teaching days will be extended in schools so that the study of students does not get suffered, he added.

He said that in order to provide more teaching days to the students in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the teaching activities will be conducted in the schools during winter and second Saturday holidays. Even during these teaching days, students will be provided with teaching material through ‘Har Ghar Pathshala’ and other online mediums. Priority will be given for teaching important topics of all subjects so that the students can complete the prescribed curriculum.

In order to provide additional time for the students to prepare for the examinations, the examinations of schools with winter and summer vacation will be held simultaneously at the end of March. He said that practical examinations of various subjects will be conducted in the month of April after written tests.

Govind Singh Thakur said that many important suggestions have been received from the committee members constituted to implement the provision of providing 30 percent reduction in the syllabus of 9th to 12th classes of schools of the state and providing 30 percent additional option in the question papers. The experts are of the opinion that students should be provided with detailed knowledge of every subject so that they can also prepare for competitive examinations in future.

Secretary, Education Department, Rajiv Sharma, Chairman of Himachal Pradesh School Education Board Dr. Suresh Kumar Soni, Board Secretary Akshay Sood, Director of Elementary Education Shubh Karan Singh were present in the meeting.