The Uttar Pradesh government has announced several changes in its school education system as it gears up to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The changes include revision in school timings, reduced study hours, no bag days, and more holidays for students among other measures to ease their burden. Many of these changes will come into effect as early as next month, that is, October 2023. The Uttar Pradesh Education Department has been directed to prepare new rules akin to these changes.
FE Education Online looks at some of these changes and explain how will it benefit students
Changed school timings from Monday to Saturday
The school timings in both government and private schools in Uttar Pradesh will be changed starting October 2023. Classes will be held for a duration of 5 to 5.5 hours from Monday to Friday and 2 to 2.5 hours on the second Saturday of every month. In a week, there will be only 29 hours of teaching in schools. This will help students to get free from school as early as 1 pm on weekdays and 10:30 am on the second Saturday, thereby allowing them more time to indulge in other recreational activities.
Reduced study hours
The Uttar Pradesh government has put a cap on the maximum limit of the duration of classes to be held in schools. According to an official statement, classes for core subjects such as Mathematics, Hindi, English, and Science, among others, are now capped at a maximum of 50 minutes. Furthermore, the time allocated for general subjects has been trimmed down to 35 minutes, reduced from the previous duration of 45 minutes. This step is expected to improve learning retention among students in classrooms.
No bag days for non-traditional learning
Another change in the policy announced by the Uttar Pradesh government is to build a stress free environment for students in schools via what is called – bag free days. As per the policy, students will be allowed to attend schools for at least 10 days without bags. On these days, students will be taught using oral and experimental methods. This initiative is expected to not only alleviate the burden on students of carrying heavy bags to school but also make learning a more enjoyable and engaging experience.
More holidays in a week, more time to recharge
Besides these changes, schools in Uttar Pradesh will also provide additional holidays. In a month, students will get two Saturdays off. This means, in addition to four week offs on Sundays in a month, students will also get two more holidays. These holidays will be provided on the first and third Saturdays.