Maharashtra government has decided to reopen schools from October 4. Schools will reopen in a phased manner. For rural areas classes 5 to 12 will resume in physical form and in urban areas classes 8th to 12th will start. The decision came soon after Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said that schools will reopen after Diwali.
Even as schools will reopen in the entire state, there is no compulsion for students to attend physical classes. Consent of parents will be necessary if they want to attend. As per a survey conducted by the school education department, more than 70 per cent of parents favoured reopening of schools, school education minister Varsha Gaikwad said.
The state had earlier formed a committee to set guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the reopening of schools. The expert panel has also suggested the Maharashtra government to reopen the schools in areas with a lower number of Covid positive cases and high vaccination coverage first.
Several reports had suggested earlier that if the speculated third wave of COVID-19 does not hit Maharashtra then the schools can reopen in a phased manner after Diwali.
The suggested SOPs include staggered school hours, social distancing inside classrooms, setting up school health clinics among others. Sanitisation of schools, staggered entry of students, wearing masks are among mandatory protocols.
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday stated that the colleges will be reopened in a phase-wise manner after reviewing the Covid-19 situations in the state. It is also mandatory for students above 18 years to be fully vaccinated. The state government is likely to decide the re-opening of colleges after October 2 while the decision to reopen schools would be taken after Diwali.
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