New Delhi, Aug 6 (PTI) Expressing concern over the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the normal academic schedule, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said virtual classes were a temporary arrangement and cannot replace a teacher.

He also said that no virtual mechanism can give the flavour of real-time classroom learning, an official statement said.

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Observing that India was on the move, Naidu said the setback caused by the pandemic was temporary and exuded confidence that the momentum would be back.

Delivering the first Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy Memorial Lecture via video, the vice president stressed that students must be encouraged to place equal emphasis on physical activity and sports.

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He also called for making yoga an integral part of school curriculum from an early age and said students should spend equal time in playgrounds and classrooms.

Terming the recently announced New Education Policy-2020 as a visionary document, the vice president said that it laid emphasis on holistic development of the students.

He said NEP-2020 was learner-centric and aims at transforming India into a knowledge society.

It rightfully balances the rootedness and pride in India as well as acceptance of the best ideas and practices in the world of learning from across the globe, he noted.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)