PANAJI
As the five-day window period for submission of views to the draft Goa School Education (Amendment) Rules, 2025 ended on Monday, the Directorate of Education (DoE) has received mixed reactions to its proposed change to commence the new academic year in April, as against June.
While several school heads, teachers, parents welcomed the move to conduct the academic term from April to March, quite a number of schools and PTAs have raised their objections citing several concerns including weather, infrastructure, etc.
The State government has formulated draft Rules under Goa School Education Act, 1984 as per which the academic year for Class VI to X and Class XII will commence from April and end in March, while for the students of Class I to V and Class XI, the term will start from June and end in April. It also said that there shall be a break of one week between the end of the academic year and the beginning of the new academic year.
The Goa Headmasters’ Association (GHA) has welcomed the State government’s decision calling it a “progressive step” with multiple benefits to students, teachers and school administration.
However, some school heads at individual level have submitted their objections to the very fact questioning how can students sit in the next class without the result of the previous class. They also pointed out that vacation is a must for teachers as they are eligible for only 10 days of earned leave and eight days of casual leave in a year.
The Higher Secondary Teachers’ Association Goa (HISTAG) has backed the move stating that teachers were committed to strengthening the education system for the holistic development of students. Some school teachers have pointed out that there is a need to give the proper gap between the two terms to the student to refresh their minds.
Parents across the State also stood divided on the matter. Several parents have submitted their support to the changes in the new academic calendar, while appreciating the fact that the department has balanced well between the curriculum and vacation. Parents appreciated that the department has not disturbed their festive vacations.
At the same time, a group of parents and PTAs have submitted their strong objection pointing out the very fact that the proposed change in academic year has been without proper consultation with key stakeholders, including parents and teachers.
Pointing out that there is no central government mandate requiring the academic year to start in April as per NEP 2020, parents said that the department has not given justification for such a major change.
They also said that there would be huge inconvenience caused by the overlapping academic years of the lower classes and standard 11 on the one hand and class 6th to 10th and 12th on the other hand. Lack of planning, no adequate infrastructure, weather conditions, etc are some of the other issues raised.
