Team Herald
PANJIM: The All Goa Secondary School Teachers Association (AGSSTA) has appealed to the State government to retain the traditional start of the academic year in June. The association argued that an immediate shift to an April start, without a break to refresh students, would cause significant mental stress and strain. Furthermore, schools are expected to assign homework during the May vacation, which would only add to the burden.
The AGSSTA executive committee, in its recent meeting, unanimously expressed concern over a circular from the Directorate of Education proposing the academic year begin in April. The current June start was established by the Goa Legislative Assembly, which considered the region's geographical and climatic factors, and has been effective without issue until now. The sudden change to an April start, without consulting key stakeholders like parents and teachers, was described by AGSSTA president Savio Suraj Victoria as "unreasonable and incomprehensible."
He pointed out that neither the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 nor the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023 mandates the start of the academic year in April, nor does it require state boards to align their academic calendars with those of CBSE or ICSE.
“There is no law or act of the Government of India that mandates the start of the academic year in April or makes it compulsory for state boards to align the academic year calendar with CBSE/ICSE Board calendar timings,” Victoria said.
Victoria also noted that the NCFSE 2023 specifies 1,045 annual hours of instruction for the secondary stage and 955 hours for the middle and preparatory stages. In Goa, there are 242 working days for teachers and 220 school days for students. With an average of 5 hours and 45 minutes of instruction per day, including assembly, Goa already completes 1,046 instructional hours annually in 182 days, well within the required number. Therefore, he argued, there is no need to increase compulsory instructional hours.
He further explained that starting the academic year in April would mean compulsory half-day sessions during the hot month of April, which contrasts with the CBSE pattern that allows for assessment in February/March followed by two weeks of full-day holidays. Similarly, ICSE schools finish their exams by mid-February and take two weeks off before starting results preparation.
“The immediate start of the academic year without a break to refresh the minds of students will cause mental stress and be torturous. The schools will give homework during May vacations too,” he claimed.
In the interest of students' holistic development, the AGSSTA has appealed to the government to keep the traditional June start.
and consider offering optional enrichment programmes in April, such as specialised coaching camps in sports and disciplines, coaching for competitive exams, summer vacation camps, and skill-based learning courses, rather than mandatory academic instruction.
“The workload of teachers does not increase with the shifting of the academic year to April. We are not in favour of the April start, as it would deny students their holistic development and force them to endure hot climatic conditions, which are not conducive for compulsory classroom instruction. We are not opposing the implementation of NEP, but we want it to be implemented in the right spirit, benefiting students by being child-centric,” said Victoria.