Odisha school reopening: Classes 6, 7 to resume offline next week

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Wednesday announced that schools for classes 6 and 7 would reopen from November 15. Teaching hours for these students will be 9.30 am to 1.00 pm, out of which three hours will be used for education, the School and Mass Education Department said.

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Students are allowed to attend classes either online or offline mode. Attendance is not mandatory for students in offline mode, the department said. "State Govt have been pleased to allow reopening of schools in respect of Class VI & VII students for the academic year 2021-21 wef 15th Nov 2021," the Information & Public Relations Department tweeted.

The School and Mass Education Department highlighted that all should follow appropriate Covid protocols. Classroom teaching had been suspended since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

First-year postgraduate students will also resume physical classes from November 15. Physical classes for first-year undergraduate students for the 2021-22 academic session began in Odisha on November 1.

Physical classes had started for classes 10 and 12 on July 26, class 11 from October 21 and class 8 from October 25.

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On November 3, School and Mass Education Minister SR Dash had said that schools in Odisha will reopen for classes 1 to 7 in a phased manner. In the first phase, physical classes will begin for students in standards 6 and 7, he said. "We hope that all the classes will commence by the new year," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)