Summer vacations of Delhi School children end as schools reopen today

New Delhi: Schools in Delhi reopen today, July 1, after a summer vacation of over a month.

As a precautionary measure, schools have been instructed to make sure that all COVID-19 protocols are being followed vigorously, as coronavirus cases are rising.

Delhi, on Thursday, recorded 865 new COVID-19 cases and zero death in the last 24 hours taking the active cases in the national capital to 3,914 with a daily positivity rate of 4.45 percent.

The schools closed on May 11, 2022, for the summer vacation. However, the classes under Mission Buniyad continued till June 18, 2022.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday directed the Directorate of Education (DoE) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to continue Mission Buniyad classes for two more months.

The Deputy Chief Minister said that this year Mission Buniyad classes were conducted on a war footing and its results have been splendid while adding that it has played a very important role in bridging the learning gap that has widened in the past two years of pandemic.

"Lakhs of children of our schools have benefited from this and there has been a positive improvement in their learning levels. All the credit for this goes to the teachers and school heads of DoE the and MCD. If MCD and DoE work together like this then it will be a big help in improving the learning levels of students," he said.

Sisodia further added that at the primary level most of the students are in MCD schools.

"During the past two years of the COVID pandemic, a significant learning gap was observed among them. Addressing this gap was a real challenge but with the efforts of teachers, students have picked up really well. DoE and MCD to continue Mission Buniyad classes for two more months," he said.

It is to be noted that according to the current data, 88 percent of the children in classes 3 to 5 in DoE schools and 78 percent of the children from MCD schools are able to read at least words. They would be able to read their books with two more months of practice. In classes 6-9, 90percent of the students are able to read small paragraphs now and with the focused approach of the next two months, they will be able to read their own books.

As per the official statement, the Mission Buniyad will be continued in schools till August 31, and the review will be done at the end of August.

In July, State Council of Educational Research & Training (SCERT) will organize a training session for 'Targeted Pedagogical Approach' with teachers from MCD and DOE Teachers will do the assessment of each child weekly, the school head will monitor the progress of each child and a mega parent-teacher meeting (PTM) will be organized in the month of July to share the learning level of their children with the parents in the schools of Delhi Government and MCD.

The class-wise syllabus will be reduced to create more time and opportunities for strengthening foundational skills.