Several private schools have decided to move classes online till the summer break and some others will make a decision in the next few days. Many of the private schools that don’t want to go online said they would continue with in-person classes and not suspend lessons till the summer break. Many children were falling sick in school because of the heat.
The summer vacation in government and government-aided schools has been advanced because of the heat spell and will start on May 2, the education department announced on Wednesday. The vacation will continue till June 15.
The summer vacation in many private schools starts in the second week of May. The heads of several schools said they did not want to give up on teaching time when there was the alternative of online classes.
The La Martiniere schools, Loreto Convent Entally, Birla High School and Sushila Birla Girls’ School have decided to conduct online classes from next week. “Children are suffering in the heat. The schools have decided to hold online classes from next week,” said Supriyo Dhar, secretary of the La Martiniere schools.
Loreto Convent Entally, however, will have in-person classes for IX, XI and XII and an hour in the morning for the Nursery section, a school official said. “We need the blackboard for subjects like math and geography… We are using this time to address learning gaps,” said principal Jessica Gomes Surana.
But some schools have decided to continue with in-person classes with shorter durations. St James’ School, The Heritage School and South City International School do not want to move online and will disperse early.
“We have already changed the timings and students are getting off early as a precaution against the heat. We do not want to keep switching from offline to online,” said Terence Ireland, principal of St James’ School. The Heritage School that had online classes on Thursday and Friday will resume in-person classes again from Monday.
“School is getting over at 10.30am till Class VIII and at 11am for the senior classes. If needed, we will change the timings for the seniors. We are studying the situation and the chief minister’s recommendation also has to be considered,” said principal Father M Thamacin Arulappan.
