Patna: With a view to bringing multimedia learning experience, all govt middle and high schools with new building will have smart classes by the end of the current fiscal, said additional chief secretary (ACS), education department, S Siddharth, while speaking at ‘Shiksha ki Baat’ programme here on Saturday.
“We are conducting survey this month to find out what is the status of smart classes in schools. Especially middle and high schools, having their own buildings and spaces, will get the smart classes before the end of the current financial year,” said Siddharth, underlining the importance of technology in education for children in the current time.
To a question of govt teachers moonlighting in private coaching institutes, the ACS said the department has made it clear that govt teachers cannot run or teach in private coaching institutes. “And to make things clearer, we will also issue directive in this regard soon,” he said, adding, even govt school students cannot attend coaching classes during school hours.
When pointed out that sports have gained significant importance in today’s world, however, physical education is not included as one of the main subjects in secondary and higher secondary classes. He said that the department would discuss the matter with the BSEB and the newly established sports university. The objective is to explore the possibility of introducing sports as an elective subject in schools, he said.
On the issue of providing syllabus to the students, he said it would be provided to them, if they ask for it. “The entire textbooks provided by the govt is in fact the syllabus. Questions in the exams would be asked from the books only,” he added.
To yet another question whether govt teachers could post education-related videos on social media like You Tube, Siddharth said, the teachers were free to post any number of education-centric materials from school premises on social media. “Govt has prohibited teachers only from making reels or posting their dance or drama videos from the school campus. They can post education-related materials on any social media platform that can help students with their studies,” he said, adding, but child rights should be kept in mind even while posting educational videos or posts.