Teachers told to declare results on WhatsApp

Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 26

Amid 21-day national lockdown, the Education Department has decided to declare the results of non-board classes on the instant messaging application – WhatsApp. The department has already asked all the school heads to declare results of Classes 6th, 7th, 9th and 11th on the WhatsApp numbers of parents.

The decision is said to have taken so as to prepare the students mentally for the next classes. The block mentors — the block-level officers under the Padho Punjab project — have already been directed to complete the task of declaring the results at their earliest.

More significantly, in the wake of staying-at-home order, block mentors — resorting to the digital ways of communication — have asked teachers to give an assignment to the students through WhatsApp. The assignments were given to the students so as to prepare them to appear in the test amid 21-day lockdown finishes on April 15, reads a message by block mentor.

A mathematics teacher in Patiala, said, “It seems the department is not taking the Coronavirus pandemic seriously. When everything is under lockdown, the Education Department wants to give an assignment to students.”

‘Pass all students’

The block mentors have also asked schoolheads to pass all the students of non-board classes to the next class. However, few teachers said it was not a good decision to pass every student. Teachers also said students who have not studied throughout the year can not be promoted to a board classes.

Academics against the move

The block mentors have also asked schoolheads to pass all the students of non-board classes to the next class. However, few teachers said it was not a good decision to pass every student. Teachers said students who have not studied throughout the year can not be promoted to a board classes.