Manipur education minister says no plan to reopen schools: Report

NEW DELHI: In response to reports on reopening schools in Manipur, education minister S Rajen clarified that there was no plan to reopen schools in the state, The Hindu reported.

The news reports had alleged that there are two sets of systems, one for the hill districts and another for the valley districts.

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As per The Hindu report, Rajen said, “We had closed the schools in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no fresh order to reopen any schools. We have written to the Home Department on the issue since this department has been giving the ‘go ahead’ orders.”

Apprehensive over the spread of fresh infection among children, the minister said since there is no vaccine for students below 18 years old, the department has decided to not resume physical classes now, the report said.

Private schools and educational institutions have also been instructed not to reopen schools.

The report added that the hill districts say that schools were not open on Thursday in compliance with the fresh instructions of the state government.

In June, the Manipur government had cancelled the Class 10 and 12 board examinations 2021 due to the Covid-19 situation.

Meanwhile, states including Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra have already reopened schools for some senior classes. While, states like West Bengal, Maharashtra, some private schools in Delhi and Karnataka have decided to reopen schools after Diwali.