Goa schools to reopen for Classes 9-12 on October 18, says CM: Report

NEW DELHI: The Goa government has decided to reopen schools for Classes 9 to 12 from Monday, October 18 in a phased manner, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said, as per a Times of India report.

Sawant told TOI that the decision was taken by the task force in COVID management.

Since schools for Classes till 8 still remain closed, it will be easier to run offline classes for four standards in a phased manner, Sawant said, as per the report.

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CM Sawant said that schools will have to follow all precautionary and safety measures, and COVID-19 protocols for reopening schools and the director of education will share the school reopening SOPs to be followed, the report said.

Goa’s COVID-19 expert committee suggested the government reopen schools for Classes 9, 10 and higher classes, the report said.

Earlier, the parent teacher association and teachers council of Dr KB Hedgewar High School held a rally in the capital followed by a demonstration at Azad Maidan demanding offline classes and exams, the report said. Several students were also seen holding banners that said “online exam bye-bye, offline exams amka zai (we want offline exams), according to the report.

The state government has already allowed higher secondary schools to hold offline exams for Classes 11 and 12. The people want exams for Classes 9 and 10 to be conducted in offline mode too, the report said.

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“When everything else has opened up, schools should be allowed to hold offline exams and classes at least for students of Classes 9 to 12,” a teacher said, as per the report.

Students said that online exams do not provide an accurate picture of the academic level of a particular student, the report said.