Odisha: New Academic Session to Commence from May 1 with Full Syllabus

Bhubaneswar: The new academic session in schools will start from May 1 with 100 per cent syllabus, informed School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash on Saturday.

Earlier, the syllabus was reduced by 30 per cent due to COVID-19 pandemic which had affected the class room teaching.

The new academic session of schools will commence from May 1 with 100 percent syllabus coverage, the Minister said.

In view of improvement in the pandemic situation, the State Government has decided for covering the entire syllabus for the school students, he said.
The Minister further stated that the class 9 and 10 students will have to appear practical examination from the new academic session.

The State government is considering restoring the single-exam format and Practical exams for Classes 9 and 10 like the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). However no decision has been taken in this regard, he added.
Earlier today, the Government announced that the summer vacation in schools will be curtailed and allowed for a period of 11 days between June 6 and June 16.

Usually, the schools remain close for a period of one and half months during the summer vacation. However, this year, the vacation has been cut short to cover the syllabus which cannot be completed due to Covid-19 pandemic, the School and Mass Education Department said.

In order to compensate the learning losses that arose out of Covid-19 during the past two years, Learning Recovery Plan (LRP) as envisaged by the Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) will be implemented with the existing teachers during morning classes, it said.

The State Government has also taken a few other measures for class promotion, new admission/readmission and teaching hour of students studying in different schools.

The process of class promotion for the students from Class 1 to 8 will be made by April 20 while new admission/re-admission for Class 1 to 9 will be done during April 20 to April 30, a statement issued by the Mass Education Department said.

As per the new assessment policy introduced by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha, Class 9 students will have to appear for the Summative Assessment (SA)-2 Examination.
The conduct of SA-2 and declaration of results for students of Class 9 and promotion to Class 10 will be completed by May 10.

Morning classes will continue in the state. The teaching hour will be from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. during May 1 to June 5. Cooked mid-day-meal (MDM) will be supplied to the eligible beneficiaries at the schools, it added.