Manish Sisodia Writes To Union HRD Ministry On Schools Reopening Plan

Mumbai: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has written to Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokharyal ‘Nishank’ that he is supporting the initiative of the ministry for the plan to reopen schools with appropriate guidelines.

According to an official statement on Saturday, Sisodia said in his letter that as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that we have to learn to live with Coronavirus and said that reopening schools with proper precautions are a step in the right direction.

This comes as the Union Human Resource Development Ministry is preparing detailed guidelines for reopening by schools and universities. Educational institutions have been closed since the lockdown was implemented to prevent the spread of coronaviruses.

“First of all, we need to reassure every child, regardless of age and social class, that they are important to us and they all have equal rights over the physical and intellectual space of their respective schools. The clamor of online teaching or older children coming to school first and not the younger ones should be put to rest”, Sisodia said in the letter.

Citing a study by ICMR, which stated that the rate of coronavirus attack (people affected per 1 million population) is the lowest among the 0-9 age group, he said, “Since we are now being treated with coronavirus So we need to survive. So it is better to adopt the role that school has in the already existing learning space. But before doing that, parents need to be taken in confidence and they should explain the risk factors with facts.”

“Living with coronaviruses will lead to major changes in learning processes in schools around the world. It is up to us to decide whether our schools should be restructured on the basis of learning from our country, our society, and our great history, or we wait for other countries or some other societies to do something and then we can put those people here Copy it. In my view, we need to take decisive steps now, ”the Deputy Chief Minister said.

Sisodia, who is also the Education Minister of Delhi, suggested that different approaches should be followed in early childhood education, primary grade section, secondary and senior secondary students.

“Syllabus in all grades and subjects should be reduced to at least 30 percent. Emphasis should be placed on education and teaching. Classes 10 and 12 for a model of continuous assessment so that students can take online exams whenever they want,” he said.

For early childhood and elementary grades, Sisodia recommended “setting the foundation for lifelong learning” with the goal of “learning to learn”.

“Instead of continuing the remainder of schooling with a reduced curriculum, we should only move from the tendency to complete the syllabus. Instead, fluency in reading with comprehension and verbal expression, different styles of text, number sense, emotional writing Flexibility, and healthy internalization. And clean behavior should be a key area of ​​engagement between children and their teachers.

Universities and schools across the country have been closed since March 16, when the center announced a nationwide classroom shut down as part of measures to prevent the outbreak of COVID-19.

On March 24, a 21-day nationwide shutdown was announced, which went into effect the following day. While the government has announced a relaxation of some restrictions, schools and colleges continue to remain closed.

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