Delhi model virtual school is strictly online, not hybrid: Govt

New Delhi: Referring to NIOS' claim of coming up with the first virtual school already in 2021, the Delhi government on Thursday said that its Delhi Model Virtual School which will teach classes 9 to 12 will be strictly online with no parallel or hybrid approach to it.

The National Institute of Open Schooling had on Wednesday in a statement said that the first virtual school in the country was launched last year by the Centre. The Delhi government said that NIOS has study centres spread across the country which conduct in-person classes, whereas, Delhi Model Virtual School will be completely virtual.

The Delhi government has been taking NIOS as an option for our students in some schools. They have study centres spread across different parts of the country which operate as in-person support classes.

In 2021 they decided to parallelly offer this study support through online mode also without abolishing its in-person study centres," the Delhi government said in a statement. It said that during the pandemic, most of the schools moved to online teaching and after the pandemic many of them still follow the hybrid approach.

"If on the basis of offering online study classes as one of the options to its students, NIOS claims that it is now a completely virtual school then all the best to them," it said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday launched a virtual school, which he claimed was "India's first such platform", while announcing that students from across the country will be eligible for admission.

The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), however, said the first virtual school in the country was launched last year by the Centre and not by the Delhi government.

Addressing an online press conference, Kejriwal said the Delhi Model Virtual School (DMVS) will be for classes 9-12 and also prepare students for competitive exams like JEE, NEET and CUET.

Describing the need for such a school, he said it will be a revolutionary step in the sphere of education. The school will be affiliated to the Delhi Board of School Education formed last year. "When schools were shut during Covid, we saw schools take virtual classes, we have started the Delhi Model Virtual School based on this concept itself. Children from any corner of the country, be it a village or city, can take admission in this school," he said.

The application process for the 2022-23 academic session started from Wednesday and students can apply through www.dmvs.ac.in. Any child aged between 13 and 18 who has completed class 8 from any recognised school can apply for admission in class 9.

The school will not charge any fee and there will be an attendance tracking system in-built in the online platform used for classes. As for the exams, students will be required to physically come to the national capital for two term-end exams. These exams will be held at the designated schools in Delhi where students can also give computer-based Tests. "All classes will be online in our virtual school. Online classes will be recorded so that students who are unable to attend the live classes can take them in their free time.

"Every student will be assigned an ID and password using which they can attend online classes, access recorded videos, supplementary learning materials and tutorials," Kejriwal also said.