States plan reopening of schools, colleges

THE CENTRE HAS SAID IN THE SECOND PHASE, IT PLANS TO REOPEN ALL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES INCLUDING SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES AFTER HOLDING DISCUSSIONS WITH STATES AND UTS

NEW DELHI: Schools from the secondary level and colleges outside Covid-19 red zones will reopen in Maharashtra from July 1, the state government said in a statement on Monday and added classes for students of Class 6 to 8 will resume from August.

The decision to reopen the educational institutes was taken at a meeting chaired by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. School education minister Varsha Gaikwad was among those who attended it.

The move comes days after the Centre announced a three-phase plan to lift stringent restrictions imposed over two months ago to stop the spread of Covid-19. The Centre has said in the second phase, it plans to reopen all educational institutes including schools and colleges after holding discussions with states and Union Territories.

“Though in some areas, schools cannot be opened, the process of teaching cannot be stopped. The use of digital technology to reach out to students should be adopted,” a government circular said.

Gaikwad said the government has stipulated certain hours of online teaching per week for students from Class 2 onwards and that there were demands for reopening schools from August.

In Tripura, the state government has formed a committee to examine the timings and modalities of re-opening educational institutions.

“In the 32-member committee, we have members from different fields... Six parents will be on the committee. We will examine the timing for re-opening of all the educational institutions,” education minister Ratan Lal Nath said.

The Uttarakhand government has directed students to submit health certificates saying they have not suffered from influenzalike illnesses over 14-days before taking board examination. The students will have to reach examination halls an hour early to ensure social distancing norms and carry personal sanitisers.

The Uttarakhand government released the date sheet for the remaining board exams from June 22-25.

R K Kunwar, the state’s school education department director, said the number of examination rooms has been doubled to ensure social distancing. “Students with a fever will be able to write their papers in separate rooms.”

In Rajasthan, the education board has asked school authorities to have sanitisers in every examination room and have students reach there at least an hour before the start of the exams.