Schools in Pune asked to operate on weekends to make up for learning loss

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Friday asked city schools to run for the full day on Saturdays and if needed, to remain open even on Sundays to make up for the learning loss suffered by students due to online classes during the pandemic.

A committee led by writer Rohith Chakravarthy was also formed to examine the social science textbooks of classes 6-10 and the Kannada textbooks of classes 1-10. File.

THE PUNE Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Friday asked city schools to run for the full day on Saturdays and if needed, to remain open even on Sundays to make up for the learning loss suffered by students due to online classes during the pandemic.

Usually, schools are allowed to operate during morning hours from March. But according to the circular, schools will be allowed to remain open for the full day till April-end for students of Classes 1-9 and Class 11 for this academic year. Students of Class 10 and Class 12 are already appearing for their board examinations.

“Schools in the city should run full time on Saturday. Schools should also keep the option of staying open on Sundays,” said Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar in his order on schools running for additional hours to make up for students’ learning loss. The order is also applicable for schools in Pune Cantonment and Kirkee Cantonment areas.

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The commissioner cited the state government order dated March 24, which has asked schools to start offline classes even on Saturdays and hold extra classes on Sundays whenever possible. The circular also asked schools to hold exams for students of Classes 1-9 and Class 11 in the third week of April, and declare the results in May.

The PMC order was issued considering the improvement in the Covid-19 situation and the relaxation of restrictions in phases.

On February 7, the state government had decided to allow schools to resume regular operations by reopening all classes for the entire day.

The Covid-19 situation has improved significantly in the city, with the daily positivity rate staying below 1 per cent for the last few days. Only three patients are hospitalised, with one on oxygen support. As on Friday, Pune city had 111 active cases of Covid-19.

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On Friday, the city registered 15 new cases while 12 patients recovered. All the reserved 513 ventilator beds are vacant while 4,147 oxygen beds are also vacant in city hospitals.

Ajay Jadhav

Ajay Jadhav is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, Pune. He writes on Infrastructure, Politics, Civic issues, Sustainable Development and related stuff. He is a trekker and a sports enthusiast. Ajay has written research articles on the Conservancy staff that created a nationwide impact in framing policy to improve the condition of workers handling waste. Ajay has been consistently writing on politics and infrastructure. He brought to light the lack of basic infrastructure of school and hospital in the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde even as two private helipads were developed by the leader who mostly commutes from Mumbai to Satara in helicopter. Ajay has been reporting on sustainable development initiatives that protects the environment while ensuring infrastructure development. ... Read More

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