There was no clarity on whether online classes would also be suspended in this period.
Karnataka’s Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announced a three-week holiday for students and teachers in Karnataka schools amid an increase in COVID-19 cases. “I have directed officials to issue an order declaring a three-week holiday for schools from October 12-30 in light of reports that several teachers have been infected by COVID-19,” Yediyurappa said in a statement in Kannada. .
The holiday applies to state and private schools in the state. The decision comes a day after the state department of elementary and secondary education suspended Vidyagama’s plan to teach students in state schools during the pandemic on Saturday, following reports that 34 students in the Belagavi and Belagavi districts Kalaburagi in the northern region of the state tested positive. In this scheme, the teachers taught the students in an open space in the community in which the children resided.
With schools closed since March 25, when the closure was imposed and extended to contain the spread of the virus, the education department started the Vidyagama program to teach students in state schools. In some parts of the state it started in July.
“The Vidyagama scheme has been launched to allow around 42 lakh of students from the socially weaker sections to learn in classes that are held in open spaces under the trees or on the terrace of their school facilities,” said an official.
Although the Union Ministry of the Interior (MHA) has issued guidelines to reopen all schools and universities across the country as of October 15, the state government has not decided because the COVID-19 cases have not ceased. across the state. The education department had said there would be no reopening of schools until the end of October at least.
Former chief state minister and Janata Dal-Secular leader HD Kumaraswamy criticized the state government for canceling mid-term holidays for teachers despite an increase in COVID-19 cases over the weeks.
“In the midst of the pandemic, teachers in state and private schools are forced to attend schools to work without classes. The state government is putting the health of teachers and the well-being of their families at risk, even as the COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the state, “Kumaraswamy said.
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