Hyderabad: SSC exams will be conducted from May 17 to 26, according to the education department which released the academic calendar for the year 2020-21 here on Saturday.
Schools will reopen for Classes IX and X on February 1 and will have 89 working days with the last working day on May 26. During this time they are expected to cover, or revise, 70 per cent of the syllabus, which will be the portion of the board exams. Schools will go on summer vacation from May 27 to June 13.
According to the academic calendar, the Formative Assessment 1 (FA1) should be completed by March 15 and FA2 by April 15. The summative assessment will be done from May 7 to 13.
Students will have project work and assignments comprising 30 per cent of the syllabus to be completed at home under the guidance of teachers and parents. This syllabus will not be part of internal assessments and year-end summative assessment/board examinations. The remaining 70 per cent syllabus will be taught in schools and online.
The schools will operate from 9.30 am to 4.45 pm in other districts, while in Hyderabad and Secunderabad, the timings will be from 8.45 am to 4 pm. Online/digital classes for Class 10 will be held from 10 am to 11 am and for Class 9 from 4 pm to 5 pm.
A total of 204 working days including 115 days from September 1, 2020, to January 30, 2021 (online/digital classes) and 89 days from February 1 to May 26 (offline and online classes) have been calculated by the department for the academic year.
Attendance will not be mandatory at school, which will seek written consent from parents. Students willing to study from home with the consent of the parent may be allowed to do so, the academic calendar said.
According to the calendar, SMC and parents’ meetings are mandatory to be conducted before reopening of the schools to create awareness on Covid-19, immunity development, mental health and hygiene, physical distancing and precautions to be taken after reopening of the schools.
The schools have been directed to organise regular health check-up of students. The headmasters need to keep phone numbers of the nearest primary health centre or any reliable medical facility, which can be contacted in case of medical emergency. Schools have been instructed to arrange isolation rooms for staff/students having symptoms of COVID-19.
“In case, the child has or develop symptoms (of Covid-19), the parents should be contacted and transport should be arranged to send the child back to their residence with a proper escort,” it read.
The parents body Hyderabad School Parents Association has urged the government to simplify the process of examination by limiting the syllabus to 50 per cent instead of the 30 per cent that has been announced. They said that the government should provide study material in the form of video lessons, exercises and Q&A type worksheets to the students.
