PANAJI
For thousands of class I to XII students in Goa it's back to school from Monday to kickstart the new academic year, albeit without the usual raincoats and umbrellas or wading through puddles and flooded paths leading to their Alma Mater.
Within their homes, thousands of Goa's young will be in virtual classrooms, encountering their new classmates and teachers, unless internet connectivity ditches them like it has a habit to do so in Goa, particularly in rural regions.
Schools in Goa were set Monday, June 21, for reopening by the Education department with all academic work to be conducted in the online mode.
The department inexplicably, however, has mandated teachers to physically attend school despite the teaching-learning process being in online mode.
For students who for any reason miss out on the online classes, the department has put the onus on Schools to ensure them support by making "suitable alternatives" available.
"The schools have to come up with alternatives for students who couldn’t participate in online teaching learning,” the circular issued by the department on reopening of schools for the new academic year 2021-22 says.
The experience of conducting the teaching-learning processes virtually in the last academic year will hold most schools in good stead this year, according to officials of the Education department.
