Srinagar, June 2: The initiative of radio and tele-classes started by the School Education department has gained momentum as over 52 lakh students from government and private schools in J&K benefitted from these classes amid the closure of the schools for offline academic activities due to Covid-19 pandemic.
An official document issued by the School Education Department said that various initiatives have been taken for hand-holding of the school children in view of the closure of schools across J&K.
As per the official document, around 16 lakh school children of 24,000 primary schools and upper primary schools in government as well as private sector benefited by the radio classes broadcast by the All India Radio (AIR).
Also, 3.29 lakh students of around 3132 secondary schools in government and private sector were covered through Gyan Channel of IGNOU which telecasts video lectures for the students.
“Around 2.11 lakh students from 1250 government and private higher secondary schools in J&K benefited by the tele-classes telecast by DD Kashmir,” the official document reads.
The department said that it was imperative to explore the possibilities of hand-holding of children in collaboration with community and other stakeholders by reaching out to all enrolled students through online and offline mode of classes.
“Efforts are being put in to reach out to those school children who have no access to online teaching learning either due to lack of mobile connectivity in their area or non-availability of mobile devices,” the official document reads.
The School Education Department has also taken various initiatives to promote digital learning under e-Vidalaya and e-Gash.
All categories of schools including primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary schools have been covered by virtual mode of teaching.
The government has also issued detailed guidelines to put a cap on the duration of virtual classes for the students in J&K.
The School Education Department has directed the schools that online synchronous learning may be undertaken for students of class 1st to 8th for no more than two sessions of 30-45 minutes each on the days JUTs decides to have online classes for primary sections.
The department has also recommended that online synchronous learning should be undertaken for 9th to 12th class students for not more than four sessions of 30-45 minutes on each day as decided by JUTs.
Meanwhile, the J&K Education Chamber (JKEC), an amalgam of all leading private school associations from Kashmir and Jammu divisions have termed the unilateral government order to restrict the timing of online classes as “bizarre, devoid of any logic and detrimental for the future of the students”.
The chamber in a statement said that the department did not study how world over online classes were managed and neither had they watched the ground situations in J&K.
“On one hand the classes have been limited but on the other hand the Education department has not reduced the syllabus. So limited classes in such a situation means limited learning for students. It is deprivation of quality education to students here particularly when we compare it to all-India level,” the JKEC spokesman said. “If the authorities have to force schools to work according to the new plan then the syllabus should be reduced and screen time will be automatically reduced.”