Several schools plan to keep a back-up online timetable for the next academic year though they will begin in-person classes in the new session starting April.
The unpredictability of the last two years has taught schools to be more flexible and prepared, heads said.
A few schools have even asked teachers not to dissolve or disband the social media groups that they have with students or parents.
The difference between an online and in-person class is that there has to be more breaks and fewer periods because “of a restricted screen timing” in online mode compared to in-person classes.
Several schools had started in-person classes in February after the state government gave a go ahead.
Many others have planned to start from the first week of April, calling all students, as it used to be before the pandemic.
“We are keeping a back up online timetable ready because if the situation demands moving back to school from home we should be able to switch immediately,” said Basanti Biswas, the principal of Calcutta Girls’ High School.
Schools feel if WhatsApp groups are dissolved now it would mean extra work if the switch to online had to be made again.
“We have asked teachers not to disband the class groups on social media. If the need arises only changing the class teacher, who is the admin of the group, would be enough and one would not have to prepare the data of an entire class once again,” said Aruna Gomes, the principal of Loreto House.
Schools like Loreto House, Calcutta Girls’, The Heritage School are starting off from the first week of April, with no option of online classes as of now.
La Martiniere for Boys will also start from April and the school has decided to do away with hybrid (simultaneous online and offline classes) if the situation continues to remain like this.
“But we have prepared different timetables. One of them is when the entire strength is back in school and the other if there has to be online classes,” said John Stephen, acting principal of the school.
Preparing two timetables is extra work for schools, heads said.
In an online class, schools try to give short breaks to the students in between periods to give rest from screen time. The number of periods in offline mode is seven or eight which is four or five in online.
But having learnt from the pandemic period, schools might not do away with the advantages of the online mode.
“We will have full fledged offline classes from April but we will have the online platform for short tests that students would take on Saturdays. It will be auto corrected and would save teaching time in school,” said Seema Sapru, principal of The Heritage School, who said the online timetable would continue to exist.
“It is more difficult to prepare an offline timetable now because we have to consider free periods for teachers in between. Teachers have to move from one building to another and not that they can enter and exit a class by logging in and out,” said Sapru.