Education secretary heeds parents’ call for meet with academics on April school start

Panaji: After a group of parents met education secretary Prasad Lolayekar on Wednesday to oppose the April start of schools’ academic year, he heeded the parents’ demand for a joint meeting with academicians, teachers, and experts. The state is being advised on the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, by these academic experts.
The meeting is expected to be scheduled next week.
Lolayekar also told the parents that the state is considering giving students a week’s break before the new academic year starts.
Parents said that there is a lot of confusion on the implementation of the NEP, and they want clarity from the experts.
Moreover, the parents said that signature campaigns of parent-teacher associations are under way at schools across Goa to push the state to retain the tradition of starting the new academic year in June.
“Schools need to break for two months to destress the children, as many schools finish their exams on March 28 and 29. But the new academic year will begin this year on April 1,” said one parent, who attended the meeting. “The education secretary said govt is considering giving the students a break of only a week based on the issues highlighted by the parents in the various representations.”
The parents said Lolayekar has stated that classes to be conducted in April will be activity-based and not academically heavy. But the parents said they were dissatisfied with the responses to their queries and have demanded that these classes in April be made optional.
“When the NEP was implemented for Class IX last year successfully without having classes in April, why are the extra hours needed now?” another parent said. “The secretary has informed us that a bridge course is to be conducted for Class VI to transition into the NEP. However, the parents still feel that there is no need for the extra hours in April.”
The parent added, “The only justification given as of now is that there is a need to balance first and second terms by adding hours to the first term.”
The parents also said that they informed the education secretary about many schools having to give students up to two weeks’ holiday this year as the Goa board exams have been advanced and school premises are used to conduct the exams.
Therefore, the parents said, the portion is being completed hurriedly in schools for this reason.