Odisha to curtail summer vacation to make up for learning loss during COVID-19 pandemic

Learning Recovery Plan to be implemented in State

The Odisha government has decided to shorten the summer vacation by a month to compensate for the learning loss due to COVID-19 pandemic in the State.

The decision has been taken in order to provide an additional month of teaching to students in government and aided schools across the State, said Bishnupada Sethi, School and Mass Education Secretary, on Saturday.

In order to make up for the learning loss, the Learning Recovery Plan (LRP) as envisaged by the Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) would be implemented with existing teachers, Mr. Sethi said.

Every year, the summer vacation starts during the first week of May and ends in the third week of June.

Now, the vacation has been curtailed and would be for a brief period from June 6 to June 16. In order to cope with the rising daytime temperature, the teaching hours have been fixed from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

The students in Classes I to VIII will be promoted by April 20, and school authorities have been asked to complete new admissions from April 20 to 30.

“As per the new assessment policy introduced by the Board of Secondary Education, Odisha, Class IX students have to appear for the Summative Assessment-II Examination. However, the conduct of SA-II, declaration of result for students and promotion to Class X must be completed by May 10,” the government said.