BENGALURU: The Department of Public Education (DPI) on Thursday released the academic calendar for 2022-23 for primary and secondary schools in the state.
The academic year for classes 1 to 9 will start from May 14, 2022 and will end with annual examinations from March 23 to 31, 2023. To bridge the gap caused by the pandemic, the year has been declared as ‘Kalika Chetrik Varsha’. Education Reform Year) by the Dept.
In a circular, the DPI said the two-year academic year would have programs and guidelines to help students improve on all aspects affected by the pandemic. As per the calendar, both the primary and secondary classes will be held between 10 am to 4 pm. However, while the former will have eight periods, the latter will have seven. The next vacation of the students will be during Dussehra between October 3 and 16.
Mixed response from stakeholders
The calendar received a mixed response from the stakeholders. D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the affiliated management of primary and secondary schools, informed that during the Dussehra holidays in October, the department has assigned the workload to the schools for 22 days though there are more than 12 holidays in a month. “Besides, Diwali holiday has also not been declared in the calendar. We need clarity on how we expect to complete the workload with only eight working days which are remaining in the month,” he said. Kumar has requested the department to evaluate the calendar and re-issue it.
Federation of Private Schools and Management Association president Lokesh Talikete welcomed the government’s calendar and the department’s decision to declare the academic year 2022-23 as the year of education reform.
“Students are lagging behind in academics because of the pandemic – schools could not run smoothly; Children were not able to attend classes properly. Bridge courses and corrective measures are of vital importance,” Talikte said. However, he expressed concern over the lack of lessons adapted to the needs of the Guidelines for Improving Learning. “We were expecting that the department would also release new syllabus and textbooks which have been made as per the bridge course programme. We fear that without such real changes, the reform year will be only in name and not on the ground,” he said.
Eighth-grade parents echoed similar concerns. He said the syllabus and textbooks are the same every year. “How does the department aim to bridge the gap with a similar curriculum?” he said.