PANJIM: The State government has permitted students of class I to VIII to answer the final examination for the academic year 2020-21 from home.

Directorate of Education (DoE), in a circular issued to all schools and higher secondary schools, has also granted permission to hold practicals for students of Class IX and XI in science and vocation stream, from January 11, ‘offline’ by following the standard operating procedure (SOP).

DoE director Santosh Amonkar, in the circular, said that students of classes I to VIII are permitted to answer the exams from home and that the exams for Class III to VIII will be in written format.

The exams for Class I and II will be conducted as per the guidelines issued by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).

The dates for conducting the exams have, however, not been released and it may be up to schools to decide.

Further, the director said that considering the response for the physical classes of X and XII, which commenced in November, and in consultation with the Principals’ Forum and Headmasters’ Forum, it has been decided to start practicals in practical subjects for classes IX and XI science and vocational stream from January 11 by following the SOP strictly.

Principals of higher secondary schools have been asked to take the initiative to start classes of XI wherever feasible.

The attendance link in Google form will be sent to all schools through ADEI office concerned to track physical attendance of the students every day. All Heads have been requested to send the attendance only through the Google link to generate the attendance report for onward submission to the government.

“The Heads of the institutions are enjoined to initiate pro-active measures to conduct assessment and evaluation of exams (midterm/1st term/2nd term) in offline mode,” Amonkar said in the circular.

The exam for classes IX and XI will be conducted as per the guidelines issued by Goa Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education.