Tribune press service

Neha Saini

Amritsar, May 4

The Punjab government’s decision to reschedule school hours and order schools to hold online classes from May 16 to May 31 in light of the heat wave conditions does not appear to have gone down well with parents as well as the community. teaching fraternity.

The Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) issued a statement on Wednesday, strongly opposing the decision calling it another blow to learning and education for children, who have already faced disruption for two years. year.

“Instead of imposing pro-privatization and discriminatory online education in the face of rising heat, provide uninterrupted power and generators in schools to ensure continuity of learning. The first summer holidays would reduce teaching days, putting pressure on students and teachers to complete the program on time. The decision will once again impact children, especially in public schools, who have already lost valuable learning time due to the pandemic-affected years,” said Ashwani Awasthi, District Chairman, DTF .

Teachers insisted that over the past two years, with educational institutions closed for nearly 15 months due to Covid-19, online teaching had not proven very effective by compared to teaching in the regular classroom. “In the case of public school students, who cannot afford to access online courses, the the situation is again similar. It will disrupt their learning,” Awasthi said. Meanwhile, parents are also facing challenges with rescheduled school hours, especially those whose neighborhoods take school transportation.

“My eldest daughter, who is 11, has to catch her school bus at 6am, which means she now gets up at 5am to get to school at 7am. She returns at 1:30 p.m. Likewise, my youngest, who is in nursery school, goes to school at 8am and comes back at 11am. There is no more routine for children and parents, especially working parents, who now have to manage their office hours with more difficulty,” shares Pooja Arora, a digital marketing professional in the city.

Anupama Sharma, another working mother of two, shares that resuming online classes will once again raise doubts among children and parents. “It will once again disrupt the schedule of children and parents alike. In case, there is another wave of Covid-19 in the coming months, the learning will be done again. So why waste valuable student time now,” she said.