PANAJI
The State government on Monday announced that it has given the nod for schools to restart physical classes for students of standard VII and VIII from Thursday (November 25).
Director of Education Bhushan Savoikar said, commencing classes in physical mode from November 25 for students of standard VII and VIII was put up for approval of the State government and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, has stamped his approval.
Savoikar however said, there has been no decision as yet on commencing physical classes for the lower classes up to standard VI.
He said, a detailed circular related to the decision to permit schools to hold physical classes for the VII and VIII standard students will be issued on Tuesday morning.
The decision comes more than a month after the State's 'Task Force on Covid-19 Management' had cleared the decks for opening schools in physical mode after the expert committee comprising of several doctors and pediatricians had deliberated on the issue and said it was advisable.
The State government however threaded cautiously and initially permitted classes in physical mode only for students of Classes IX to XII, just prior to the Diwali vacations.
Managements of schools however were given the leeway to derive their own schedules including calling students in batches as per their infrastructure so that social distancing is ensured and number of students in each classroom is curtailed.
Schools, however, only conducted the first examination of the current academic year in the physical mode for students of classes IX to XII before the Diwali break.
Last week after the academic work restarted post the Diwali break, several schools begun physical classes but again students are taken on alternate days to ensure numbers in each classroom are reduced and social distancing strictly maintained.
Schools in Goa had suspended physical classes since March 2020 when the pandemic first hit and the nation went into a national lockdown. Since then, classes and all academic work was being carried out in the online mode which several experts have warned could lead to a generational knowledge gap.
Educationists and experts are worried that no physical interaction for such a prolonged period for the students could contribute to irreversible damage and for several months now, UNICEF India had been lobbying with State governments to reopen schools warning of a "generational catastrophe".
