Hyderabad: It is a difficult one-month for thousands of private schools, including the missionary schools that follow the syllabus prescribed by the Telangana government. Due to the non-availability of textbooks, academic teachings have taken a backseat in most of the schools.
Instead, cultural and literary competitions, classes on improving English skills besides indoor sports activities are being held in most of the schools at present.
Some schools are even conducting one or two teaching classes every day and the remaining time is allotted to these activities — often much to the joy of students.
According to the school managements, this is being followed to keep the students engaged while the wait for textbooks continue. “Students are attending classes without textbooks. So conducting academics for four hours at a stretch is not advisable; they even cannot revise the syllabus at home. Hence, we have decided to conduct classes as well as competitions and co-curricular activities,” said the principal of a missionary school.
Essay writing, storytelling, elocution, debates, solo dance, fancy dress completion are some of the activities that will continue until April 23, when schools break for summer vacation.
“Normally, two chapters of the syllabus are completed during this period.
Due to lack of textbooks we are going slow. However, once the schools reopen we need to make up for the lost time. Extra classes will then be conducted for two weeks to complete the syllabus,” he stated.
The school managements blamed the Education department for the extraordinary situation as it announced advancing of the academic year only to withdraw it in the eleventh hour. This left schools to function for one month without a proper plan, and lack of textbooks was also a big drawback, stated the Missionary Schools Association.
