Bhubaneswar: Considering the pandemic situation in state, the School and Mass Education (S&ME) department Wednesday extended the dates of admission of students into elementary and secondary classes till June 30.
As per a new instruction issued by S&ME department additional secretary, Raghuram R Iyer, the dates of admission and distribution of books have been extended till June 30 due to the surge in Covid-19 cases.
The department had earlier directed all district and block education officers (DEOs and BEOs) to complete the admission of students to elementary and secondary classes by May 31.
Due to the pandemic situation, classes pertaining to elementary wing have been suspended since March 20 last year. Besides, the examination process could not be carried out due to the virus outbreak.
Meanwhile, classroom teaching for Class IX and X students have been suspended since April 19 this year. The government has issued instructions regarding the promotion of students of government and aided elementary and secondary schools of the state.
As per the new instruction, the admission process should be conducted between 7am and 9am on all working days. Not more than five parents should be allowed at a time to attend the admission process.
The headmasters should ensure that Covid guidelines issued by government are strictly followed by the parents, said the instruction. These instructions will be applicable to all government, government aided and all BSE/CHSE, Odisha affiliated schools, said the S&ME department.
The department has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for smooth conduct of the admission process amidst the pandemic and prevailing heatwave condition in state.
As per the SOP, all admissions based on promotion within the school will not require the presence of students or their guardians. These are rolling admissions and schools will update their admission registers accordingly, said the SOP.
PNN