It has been 3 months since the schools and colleges have been closed due to the pandemic. Recently Maharashtra Government had issued guidelines to restart virtual classes and physical reopening of schools from next month in less affected areas. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, on Monday, directed the School Education Department to start pilot projects for online classes.
He saw a demonstration of how to fill an online classroom through Geo TV as well as Google Meet and interacted with the students. The Chief Minister also said that in the next few days, teachers, MLAs as well as selected headmasters and teachers should make presentations and seek suggestions from them. Minister Varsha Gaikwad was also present when he took over the VC of the school education department today.
Chief Minister said that since the educational curriculum from 1st to 12th standard is electronic, it should be compatible with all devices and should be easily available offline. This time they also saw a demonstration of an online class on Google Meet. He also said that students should not be allowed to face any technical difficulties and must be immediately solved.
School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad informed that two channels for X and XII have been created on Geo TV on an experimental basis. It was also informed that 5 separate channels from Std I to Std XII are also planned on this TV. Doordarshan also plans to conduct 4 to 5 hours of educational hours a day.
According to the government’s notification for online classes, Standard 3 to Standard 5 has been allowed screentime of one hour, Standard 5 to Standard 8 for two hours, and Standard 9 to Standard 12 for three hours. School Management Committees (SMCs), along with local administration, will be allowed to decide whether schools should be physically reopened.
