AP Govt Bans Online Classes

Education minister Adimulapu Suresh warned private educational institutions of serious consequences if they conducted online classes to the students across the state. He said that the academic year is likely to begin on August 3, 2020, as announced by the state government earlier. He asked the private school managements not to go for online classes till the government issued the 2020-21 academic year schedule.

This warning has been issued following the appeals of a few parents that they cannot afford to buy smart phones, lap tops, tablets, to facilitate students attend online classes. In the wake of the pandemic, lakhs of people are struggling to make ends meet and how can they buy smart phones, Suresh pointed out.

The minister said that students not having electronic gadgets will lag behind while those having them will listen to the online classes. In view of the disparity in gaining knowledge, the AP government has issued blanket ban on online classes, he said.

The minister also said that many private schools did not pay salaries to their employees in view of Coronavirus-induced lockdown.

The Andhra Pradesh School Regulatory and Monitoring Commission will look into the issue of whether to continue the online classes.

Meanwhile, the AP government has also received guidelines from the Centre to conduct UG and PG exams.