As schools are set to reopen on September 5, the Andhra Pradesh education department has now decided to condense the syllabus by 30-40 per cent. Education minister Adimulapu Suresh said that the redesign will be undertaken considering the number of working days that are available.

Speaking to a leading daily, he said that as already 90 days out of 222 working days have passed, and said that there would be no changes made in the pattern of the exams or question paper format.

"We have given syllabus-related workbooks to government school students, and have launched Vidya Varadhi vehicles to conduct classes across the state. We understand that as per the government’s decision, students in private schools have not been able to have online classes. As it is difficult for both teachers and students to complete the entire year’s syllabus in just six months, we decided to condense the syllabus," Suresh said, as quoted by the daily.

Although students of Classes 1-8 will not sit for exams and they will be assessed on their internal marks, however students of Class 9 and 10 will have to appear for their exams.

The education minister said that Saturdays will be "no school bag days" and these days will be used to relieve students from stress and anxiety by making them watch films or other activities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that dry ration will be given instead of mid-day meals.

(With inputs from TNIE)