New Delhi Feb 25 PTI For the first time in two years schools in the national capital will open completely in offline mode from April 1 with the citys disaster management authority on Friday giving its nod to end the hybrid mode of operationSchools in the national capital were closed in March 2020 ahead of a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus While schools reopened in phases whenever the COVID-19 situation permitted they have been operating in the hybrid mode and students were allowed to attend offline classes only with their parents consentThe National Progressive Schools Conference NPSC which has over 120 private schools as its members termed the decision too little too lateWhy April 1 It should have been allowed from March 1 Children from nursery to class VIII have huge learning gap as we are observing them In March we could have focussed our efforts to bridge that gap so that children would have been ready for the next grade in April NPSC Chairperson Sudha Acharya saidTeachers are overburdened with online offline teaching and assessment They are no less than frontline workers and warriors Teachers mental health and wellbeing is of utmost important for us to deliver quality education creating a happy and joyful environment in the school she addedAnshu Mittal Principal MRG School Rohini welcomed the decisionWe welcome this move to reopen the schools for students as now we foresee a major population of students in this age group would have received their first shot and also towards completing their second We havent bent down in front of this pandemic and we still wont Children who are in school seek complete focus of their mentor and are bubbling with energy which was curtailed for almost two years whereas children whose parents have still opted for online mode may feel that spark of personal interaction is missing she told PTIAs educators we have to ensure that a balance is maintained so that no one feels left out The pandemic took a toll on the emotional as well as physical wellbeing of learners Yet we were able to bridge the learning gaps to a large extent by focusing on experiential learning and social skill development activities which result in a smooth transition to offline mode she addedHer thoughts were echoed by Shubhi Soni Head of the school The Shri Ram Wonder Years RohiniWe are excited and geared up for starting a new session in brick and mortar scenario which means physical classes from April It is a sigh of relief for all the parents and the educators as for preschoolers it is important to grow play and enjoy with their peers in a congenial environment provided at school Setting up their daily routine is a task for the parents and educators tooNeed of the hour is to provide them an environment where they are given a platform to interact with peers express themselves freely engage in physical activities pretend play group activities with peers We have designed many attractive activities for the new session and this we know would motivate the students to attend school regularly We are focusing more on physical activity as many students have become physically unfit due to the sedentary life style they had been leading for nearly two years she saidThe Delhi Parents Association DPA also welcomed the decision but expressed hope that the transportation issue which has deterred parents from sending children to schools during the hybrid mode of operations will be resolvedWe welcome the decision to open the schools completely from new session 1st April Most parents in Delhi had demanded for the same that school should only open from new session 2022-23 Hopefully with the opening of schools the guidelines regarding school transportation will also come out soon said DPA President Aparajita GautamThe disappointing part is that the old order in which classes were supposed to be held in the hybrid mode with parents consent is being disregarded by most of the schoolsChildren are being forced to go offline for the final exams by saying that if they do not come to the school they will not be promoted and wont get the facility of online exams she added PTI GJS GJS TIR TIR

New Delhi Dec 28 PTI Schools colleges and training and coaching institutions in the national capital will remain closed as the DDMA has declared a yellow alert amid a spike in COVID-19 cases following the emergence of the virus Omicron variant The Directorate of Education DoE clarified that online teaching learning examinations and related activities such as practicals projects and assignments for classes 9 to 12 would be conducted according to schedule While the Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA alert evoked mixed reactions from parents other stakeholders including school principals and education experts raised concern about increasing learning gaps The alert which comes under the Graded Response Action Plan GRAP follows the national capitals biggest single-day spike in COVID-19 infections in over six months on Monday when 331 new cases were reported with a positivity rate of 067 per cent The GRAP had been approved by the DDMA in July in anticipation of a third wave of COVID-19 in Delhi The plan gives a clearer picture of imposition and lifting of restrictions according to the situation Under the yellow alert school colleges training and coaching institutions as well as libraries are supposed to be closed Schools were allowed to reopen from December 18 for students above class 6 after being closed in view of alarming pollution levels in Delhi The government had then announced that physical classes for students up to class five can begin from December 27 President of the Delhi Parents Association DPA Aprajita Gautam said the constant closing and reopening of schools has had an undeniably deteriorating effect on mental health of students We have all witnessed the total failure of planning and execution from the government this year Schools constantly closing and reopening has had an undeniably deteriorating effect on students mental health Gautam said The expected high pollution levels and the schools closing again for the nth time could have been dealt in a better planned manner There is always a fear of uncertainty in minds of our students the DPA president said The government should have been prudent in its approach to decisions and not just making them in haste without any concern for the future Gautam said President of the All India Parents Association AIPA Ashok Agarwal said schools have been closed without any justification or scientific basis One can understand taking precautions but closing schools and colleges is no solution In neighbouring states schools are open then what is special in Delhi to close schools he said Schools and colleges have faced frequent closures due to the Covid pandemic since March last year ahead of a nationwide lockdown in view of coronavirus Principal of a top private school who did not wish to be identified said There is absolutely no plan as to how these extremely widening learning gaps will be filled if this continues for long Health cannot be compromised but its high time we start working on a long-term plan which is workable the principal said Tanya Agarwal a lawyer and a parent of a Class I student who has been vocal about long term negative effect of school closures tweeted Clearly Delhi government doesnt care about kids and dont care about COVID Because they have once again decided to keep bars and restaurants open but close schools Shameful Besides school and colleges according to the set of restrictions under the alert cinemas and gyms have been also closed It also puts various restrictions on functioning of shops and public transport like establishments of non-essential goods and services and malls will open based on odd-even formula from 10 AM to 8 PM while the Delhi Metro will run at 50 per cent of its seating capacity PTI GJS GJS ANB ANB

New Delhi [India], December 16 (ANI): Noting that non-personal data has also to be dealt within the legislation if privacy is the concern, the Joint Committee on Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, has suggested creating a "single administration and regulatory body" to avert contradiction, confusion and mismanagement.

Tel Aviv [Israel] August 24 (ANI/FENA): For the first time since January, Israel recorded almost 10,000 new coronavirus infections in one day.