BHOPAL: After a week of parental protests and with a new Covid threat on the horizon, the state government on Sunday ordered online classes to be mandatory in schools and limited physical attendance to 50% with parental consent.
“Children under 18 should be very careful because they have not been vaccinated,” Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Sunday, adding: “Children will only go to school if their parents do. wish. Children should not be called to school without parental permission.
“Schools will have to start classes online, so parents have the option of letting their children study online if they don’t want to send them to school. The options must therefore remain open, ”ordered the CM.
The parents, who had been holding firm for a week, fearing to send unvaccinated children to school, said they were relieved and thanked the CM.
Guidelines after parents resorted to petitions and protests
On November 22, the school education department issued a notification allowing 100% physical attendance in schools, but leaving vague guidelines on online classes, prompting some schools to close online classes and to disconnect only, without worrying about the consent of the parents for the physics of the students. presence.
Parents’ groups protested, some organized a dharna outside the school gates and some petitioned the administration.
The government released new guidelines, reducing attendance to 50% and reaffirming that parental consent is mandatory, as is online education. Schools can organize exams offline, but cannot force parents to send their children.
Under the revised schedule, a child could be called for an offline course three days a week. “On the first day, 50% of the children will come to school and the remaining 50% will come the next day. This way they will go to school three days a week, but the option of online lessons must be available, ”said the CM. TNN