Team Herald
PANJIM: Education Department has sought to justify its decision to continue with five and a half hours schooling for the fourth consecutive year following apprehensions raised by some teachers.
The department’s circular for the academic year 2016-17 specifies that instructional five and half hours are exclusive of recess break, which means classes begin at 8 am and continue till 1.45 pm with a mini recess of 15 minutes.
The teaching community that sought a roll back of the school timing to five hours had expressed disappointment that several representations to Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who is also the Education Minister, have not yielded positive results.
Education Department states it has not received any grievances over the recent circular. “We have not received any complaints or demands to roll back the time as of now. If there is any such demand from the teachers, they should justify why they do not wish to continue with five and half hours of teaching timing. The authorities will examine the matter subsequently,” Director G P Bhat told Herald.
The circular also highlights that working days, including examination days from primary to higher secondary schools, should not be less than 236 days while the number of instructional days should be a of minimum 200 days. The second term examination should be held only after the completion of 200 instructional days.
It further states that the first summative/mid-term examination shall be held preferably after October 15, 2016 and second examination be conducted before March 30, 2017. The results should, however, not be declared before April 28, 2017.
“The formative assessment shall be conducted as per the convenience of the school and remaining hours of the days should be utilized for regular classes after formative assessment is over,” it states.
