Odisha closes all schools, postpones examinations

Odisha government on Monday ordered closure of all government, aided, public and private schools as a part of its preparation to check Covid-19. As a precautionary measure, examination of students of all classes from Standard I to Standard IX and XI were also postponed till further orders.

In a notification issued by school and mass education department, examination for Class XII students will continue as per the schedule. However, the examination will be conducted under strict supervision and as per the advisory issued by the health and family welfare department.

Though teachers were asked not to attend schools, they were asked to remain available over phone.

In its latest notification, the school and mass education department clarified that the evaluation of answer sheets of matriculation and Plus II will not be affected.

School and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash said the entire evaluation process will be conducted as per schedule and several dos and don’ts issued by Health and Family Welfare department will be strictly followed.

In another development, the authorities of Utkal University postponed all the mid-term examinations.

The revised dates for the mid-term semester examination will be notified later.

The students of Utkal University were asked to vacate all the hostels within 24 hours. Mess of all hostels will be closed from March 17 (tomorrow) in the premier state-run educational institute.

Odisha reported first coronavirus case on Sunday night after a 31year-old student, who returned from Italy, was tested positive. He is currently undergoing treatment at the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar.

The student returned from Italy on March 6 and was admitted to the hospital on March 14 as he did not get relief from cold and cough after reaching home on March 12.

Several district administrations have clamped prohibitory orders on any kind of mass gatherings (social and religious), assemblies, congregations, public meetings, seminars at institutions and hostels in their respective jurisdictions as a precautionary measure.