For the complete academic session 2022-23, the decision to introduce the provision of special classes and assignments for the school students was decided upon by the Government of Odisha under a comprehensive Learning Recovery Plan (LRP).
The decision was taken on the basis of a survey which found that over 40 per cent of students from Classes I to VIII were struggling to score above 20 per cent in language papers and Math.
Samir Ranjan Dash, Minister of School and Mass Education, stated that in order to address the learning loss of students, the tender has been invited to develop a fresh course which contains important topics from four major papers including Science and Mathematics.
According to the officials of the Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA), the tender will be finalised in the next 15 to 20 days and efforts are being made to introduce it from the 2022-23 academic session. Under the plan, the students will be given home assignments and special booklets will be prepared and distributed among the students. Under LRP, extra classes and class tests will be conducted throughout the year, mentioned an OSEPA official.
On the basis of OSEPA's LRP, the state government has already curtailed the summer vacation by a month in order to conduct extra classes from the month of May, the beginning of the new academic session. In order to improve the learning standards of the students, extra classes will be conducted to teach students about the important chapters of their previous classes.
The official also mentioned that a year-long plan has been worked out as one month is said to be too short to recover the learning loss of students.
OSEPA's baseline survey was carried out between October 25, 2021 and March 11, 2022. It found an alarming level of learning loss among students of Classes I to VIII, especially in the key subjects — Odia, English and Mathematics.
Nearly 40 per cent of students are unable to secure above 20 per cent marks.
