COVID-19: Gujarat schools to reopen for Classes 1 to 9 from Monday

AHMEDABAD: With new coronavirus cases declining, the Gujarat government on Saturday announced the reopening of schools for Classes 1 to 9 from February 7. A circular issued by the education department said that considering the COVID-19 situation, government, private and grant-in-aid schools can resume offline education for classes 1 to 9 from Monday. But online teaching will also continue and students can choose between the two systems, it added.

Offline or in-person education had been suspended for these classes after the infections began to increase rapidly from December 2021. Offline classes will be run in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by the government earlier, the circular said.

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Education minister Jitu Vaghani said in a tweet that the decision was taken after the issue was discussed with chief minister Bhupendra Patel and at the state's core committee amid declining new coronavirus cases. Gujarat on Friday reported 6,097 new COVID-19 cases, lowest since the high of 24,485 recorded on January 20 this year.

CMશ્રી @Bhupendrapbjp જી સાથે પરામર્શ અને કોર ગ્રુપમા ચર્ચા કર્યા બાદ કોરોનાના કેસો રાજ્યમાં ઓછા થતા વિદ્યાર્થીના અભ્યાસમા મુશ્કેલી ન થાય તે હેતુથી સોમવાર તા. ૭/૨/૨૨થી જૂની SOP (કોરોનાની ગાઈડલાઇન) પ્રમાણે ધોરણ ૧ થી ૯નુ ઓનલાઇન-ઓફલાઇન શિક્ષણકાર્ય વાલીઓની સંમતિ સાથે શરૂ કરવામાં આવશે.

— Jitu Vaghani (@jitu_vaghani) February 5, 2022

"Offline classes will start for students of Classes 1 to 8 following COVID-19 guidelines and with the consent of parents," he said in the tweet.

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As of February 4, 2022, there are 57,521 active COVID-19 cases in the state of Gujarat. The state also reported 35 Covid related fatalities on the same day, said the data published in the COVID-19 dashboard of the Gujarat government.