Delhi schools to remain close till July 31, 50% syllabus cut on anvil

Schools in Delhi will remain close till July 31, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia declared after a meeting on how to reopen schools with Directorate of Education officials on Friday. Officials agreed during the meeting that online classes and activities should continue for now.

"Reopening schools is not merely a technical work, rather, it is a creative work that would give schools a new and bigger role. Schools will continue to be closed in Delhi till July 31," Sisodia said. "Let's design a plan to reopen schools in a way that would prepare our students to adjust to the new circumstances and not fear them. It would help our students to learn to live with coronavirus."

ALSO READ: 64% parents favour starting online classes for young children: Survey

Another key agenda for the meeting was reducing syllabus for schools by 50 per cent, Delhi government said in a statement. Sisodia, who is also the education minister of Delhi, has been advocating a reduction in syllabus since the coronavirus outbreak.

"One of the suggestions in the meeting was that primary classes should be held once or twice in a week with a strength of 12-15 students in a class. Another point was made that classes can be conducted on alternate days for students of classes 3 to 5," Delhi government said in its statement.

ALSO READ: CBSE, ICSE Class 10, Class 12 results to be declared in July

Some officials during the meeting suggested that students of Class 9 and 10 should be called to attend classes in small groups once or twice a week. Other officials recommended that Class 10 students should attend classes every day. The officials recommended that students of Class 6 to 8 should be called for classes once or twice a week. For Class 11 and 12, classes could be conducted on alternate days with online classes occupying the remaining days, the officials recommended.

With a spurt in coronavirus cases, Delhi has the second-highest number of infections in the country after Maharashtra. On Friday, as per Health Ministry data, the national capital reported 3,390 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total tally to 73,780. 2,429 patients have succumbed to the virus in the city.

ALSO READ: Govt call in army to manage health facilities as coronavirus cases surge in Delhi