School reopening updates: Check states reopening schools, colleges after Diwali

NEW DELHI: After a steady decline in Covid-19 cases in the country, several states reopened schools and colleges, while some states have decided to resume physical classes after Diwali. States including Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra have already reopened schools for some classes.

Several state governments have already issued Covid-19 guidelines or SOPs and instructed principals to ensure that teachers and staff are vaccinated before resuming offline classes. Educational institutions have been shut since March 2020 after the outbreak of coronavirus. Though states started reopening schools, colleges early this year, the second wave of Covid-19 forced institutions to close again. Following a marked improvement in the pandemic situation, here’s the list of states reopening schools, colleges after Diwali.

West Bengal

The West Bengal education department has drafted a tentative standard operating procedure (SOP) for reopening schools for higher classes from November 16 after the festive season and is waiting for a nod from the secretariat. Earlier, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the schools and colleges would reopen on November 16

As per the draft SOP, students of Classes 9 and 10 will not enter the school building at the same time and there will be a half-an-hour gap between their entry. Similar procedures will be followed for Classes 11 and 12. The draft suggests that the total duration of tutorials for Classes 9 and 11 will be around 5 hours while that for Classes 10 and 12 will be about 6 hours with a 15-minute tiffin break.

Delhi

While Delhi government schools have been reporting over 80% attendance after they reopened in September for Classes 9 to 12, private schools are in the process of sending out consent forms to parents and most of them will decide their plan of action post-Diwali.

MRG School, Rohini said it is "waiting for staff readiness" with both doses of vaccination. Modern Public School, Shalimar Bagh said it will reopen after Diwali. Other private schools that will reopen after Diwali are DAV Public School, Pushpanjali Enclave, Indian School and Bal Bharti School, Pitampura, among others.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had in the last week of October announced that schools would reopen for all classes from November 1.

Puducherry

Puducherry schools for Class 1 to 8 will reopen on November 8, education minister A Namassivayam announced. He said that all government and privately managed schools in the union territory and its outlying regions of Karaikal and Yanam would reopen on November 8 to conduct physical classes for students of Class 1 to 8.

While schools in urban areas would function from 9 am to 1 pm, those in rural areas would function from 9.30 am to 1 pm. Schools would work for six days -- Monday to Saturday. The midday meal school scheme would be held in abeyance and institutions would function for half a day only. Free transport services for students would be available as in the past.

Karnataka

On October 25, Karnataka reopened schools for students of Classes 1 to 5 strictly adhering to Covid-19 guidelines. However, several private schools in the city and in different places across the state, have decided to reopen schools for these students only after Diwali, official sources said.

Maharashtra

The state government is planning to reopen Maharashtra schools for Classes 1 to 5 post the festival of Diwali, as per a report. The government has started the exercise of collecting feedback from rural and urban areas for reopening but the government is yet to take a decision on reopening of schools for Classes 1 to 4 in rural areas and 5 to 7 in urban areas.

According to media reports, Maharashtra school education minister Varsha Gaikwad discussed the matter with the zilla parishads and everyone agreed on resuming physical classes after Diwali. The state resumed physical classes for Classes 5 to 12 on October 4 after being closed for over 18 months due to the pandemic situation.

#reopendu: Decision on reopening DU after Diwali

Amid growing demand for reopening of the campus, Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh had said a decision will be taken after Diwali as there is a fear of recurrence of COVID-19 cases. "We will decide after Diwali. There is a fear that Covid might recur. If the situation remains fine, we will think," Singh.

Meanwhile, students have been protesting on social media and demanding immediate reopening of DU colleges.