“A Committee is reviewing the situation so that topic and course related information reach students. Many students in the State are yet to come under the online education system due to lack of necessary infrastructure,” said Dash.
According to Dash, the committee will undertake a special exercise and suggest measures through which all the students can be covered. Already textbooks have been provided to students and the efforts are on to reach students with the help of teachers, said Dash.
On reopening of schools, School and Mass Education Minister informed that State government has already announced closure of schools till July 31 and a final decision will be taken on time and after further review of COVID-19 situation.
Meanwhile, no decision has been taken on the conduct of pending +2 exams in the State, the minister added.
(Edited By Bikram Keshari Jena)
Also Read: In COVID19 Times, Challenges Students Face In Online Education
Under the programme, e-learning contents will be invited from experts, teachers, individuals and organisations for school education on DIKSHA and in order to leverage its potential uses by all our students and teachers.
Contributions can be made by individual, educationists, subject experts, colleges, universities, institutions, schools, offices, government and non-government organisations.
Bhupendra S Poonia, the State Project Director of OSEPA, in a letter to all district education officer (DEOs) has asked to nominate the contributing organisations.
The nominations will undergo a process of shortlisting from July 1 to 10. If approved, e-learning contents are to be uploaded during the time frame of July 11 to 20. Curation and finalisation of the contributions will be done during the time frame of July 21 to 31.
The DEOs has been asked to visit https://vdn.diksha.gov.in or hittps://vdn.diksha.gov.in/od/contribute and login/register in the site to view open projects.
There are four projects on VidyaDaan and details of the required contents are also available in each of these projects.
VidyaDaan programme will soon be inviting contributions for teacher training material too, the letter stated.
(Edited By Suryakant Jena)
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“The studies of the students of Class-XI and XII may hamper as regular schooling process is disrupted due to COVID-19 pandemic. We have to explore alternate methods of learning, instead of chalk & talk method without breaking the rules and advisories suggested for the situation,” DHSE director Brundaban Behera wrote in a letter to the principals.
School heads have been directed to identify such types of alternate methods for learning of the students during this crisis.
“Instruct your subject faculties to make WhatsApp groups of their students and deliver their lessons through the app, followed by doubt clearing once in a fortnight,” the DHSE letter said.
The principals have also been asked to instruct their faculties to search different links and provide them to the students to get relevant topics in YouTube and smart online lectures of Byju’s Class, Khan Academy etc., so that the students can focus on self-study during this situation.
The directorate has directed the principals to instruct the faculties to keep records of their works for verification whenever necessary. The principals will have to verify the records and submit monthly report of the online classes to the directorate.
(Edited By Suryakant Jena)
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https://youtu.be/6a-uQse1IZM
In a letter to the HEIs, the State education department said that the institutions ‘are required to start’ the online classes from July 13 and teachers will frequently contact students though a helpline number to counsel them and also meet their queries regarding various matters such as online teaching, examinations, projects and assignments and scholarships among others.
Meanwhile, as per the letter, students can get books from library.
Government universities and colleges shall carry out their official work, (except teaching in physical classroom mode and running of hostels) with 50% employees' strength from July 1 to August 31, the letter read.
The head of the HEls shall decide the roster arrangement of all teachers, officers and non-teaching employees to ensure that only 50% of employees attend office/duty on any given day.
Moreover, the concerned department also asked HEIs to complete evaluation/ alternative evaluation of Final Year/ Semester students and publish their results by August 31, 2020.
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In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, online teaching with expertise from TCS will be implemented in 214 Adarsha Vidyalayas and 101 Utkarsh Vidyalayas in the state.
“Online teaching has become an integral part of the school curriculum these days due to the outbreak of the pandemic. The State Government has signed an MOU with TCS to have its effective implementation in the Adarsha and Utkarsh Vidyalayas of the state. The process has been inaugurated today and we are hopeful that it will be helpful for the students," said State School and Mass Education Minister Samir Das.
According to sources, unlike in other states, online classes in Odisha have not been so successful due to poor internet connectivity in remote areas. Only 22 lakh out of 60 lakh students have access to online classes. The number dropped again as parents returned to their workplaces with the family’s only smartphone following the lifting of lockdown.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, schools across the state have remained closed.
(Edited by Suryakant Jena)
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) will reopen for PhD scholars from Monday in its fourth phase of reopening the campus after being closed for over seven months in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) had earlier released a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for universities and colleges to keep the coronavirus at bay. The SOP were issued by UGC last month.
The UGC had suggested a slew of measures to be followed for the reopening of the higher educational institutions which included some generic preventive measures.
Such generic preventive measures include maintaining of physical distancing of at least 6 feet, mandatory use of face covers/masks and self monitoring of health by students as well as faculty members.
SOP That Needs To Be Followed Before Reopening Of Campuses:
-The Central or State governments must have declared the area safe for reopening of educational institutions.
-Only universities and colleges outside the containment zones to be allowed to open.
-Students & staff living in containment zones will not be allowed to attend the colleges.
Modalities For Physical Opening Of Colleges and Higher Education Institutions
Colleges and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) outside the containment zones may be opened in a graded manner after consultations with concerned State/UTs and subject to adherence to SOP prepared by the UGC.
-For Centrally funded HEIs, the head of the institution should satisfy herself/himself regarding the feasibility of opening of physical classes and decide accordingly.
-For all other HEIs like State Universities, Private Universities, opening of physical classes to be done as per teh decision of the respective States/UTs.
Specific Measures To Be Taken:
- For other programmes -online and distance learning shall continue to be the proffered mode of teaching
-Students may visit their departments in small number after seeking prior appointments for faculty consultations.
-Institutions may provide online study materials and access to e-resources to students.
-Online teaching-learning arrangements should be made for international students who could not join the programme due to travel or visa-related issues.