Assam revises session for schools to compensate for loss of classes due to COVID-19; academic year to run from 1 April to 31 March

Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced that academic session for schools has been revised to compensate for the loss of academic days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new session will run from 1 April to 31 March. The minister took to Twitter to inform that the decision has been taken by the state cabinet after due consultation with stakeholders.

1/2 Due to Covid -19 pandemic educational Institutions are closed from 15th https://t.co/jtKyRRcIqU order to compensate the loss of academic days, after due consultation with stake holders,Cabinet has decided to revise the Academic session of schools from 1st April to 31st March

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 29, 2020

He said, “The Academic session of the current academic session shall be upto 31st March 2021. The Academic Calendar of each class shall be decided by the concerning academic authorities after proper consultation keeping in view the local climate and other factors." In Assam, the academic session starts in January and ends in December, reported Hindustan Times. Sarma has, however, not confirmed whether the new session will remain permanently in place or it is for just this year. According to NDTV, Sarma last month revealed that the government was planning to change academic year for schools under the Board of Secondary Education Assam (SEBA). He said that the decision will be made based on the feedback from people of the state. SEBA had started a portal for people to share their suggestion on the new session. It was active till 30 May. The state education minister in May also launched a local educational television channel ‘Gyan Brikshya’, reported Sentinel Assam. The channel was unveiled with an aimed to bridge the learning loss due to the coronavirus outbreak. The channel replicates “traditional classes” and provides study material for different grades.