Government schools in the state will reopen after a lapse of nine months after closing due to the national closure imposed in March.
Karnataka’s Minister of Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar announced on Monday that regular classes will resume for public school students in classes 10 and 12 as of January 1. Public schools in the state will reopen after a lapse of nine months after the nationwide shutdown. imposed in March.
Since then, public school students have had community learning or ‘Vidyagama’ classes, but were suspended in October after reports of COVID-19 cases. Even though the Karnataka government had previously announced the reopening of schools on January 1, the decision was reconsidered at a cabinet meeting on Monday. After the meeting, Suresh Kumar announced that classes will resume from January 1 for students in classes 10 and 12.
Suresh Kumar announced on December 19 the opening of schools and pre-university colleges for the regular classes of Class 10 and the second pre-university from January 1. First-year pre-college classes will begin January 15.
The decisions were suspended after reports emerged that 26 people who returned from the UK to Karnataka in the past month tested positive for the coronavirus. However, it has not been confirmed whether those who tested positive for the new coronavirus contracted the UK variant, which is believed to be more infectious. Only genome sequencing can confirm this.
Suresh Kumar said his department had consulted the health minister and technical advisory committee before reconfirming the decision to open public schools. The state government has already published a series of guidelines for the reopening of public schools. The guidelines specified that classes will be staggered, each teacher will be screened for COVID-19 and that in case students or teachers show symptoms, they will be immediately isolated.
Graduate and engineering colleges in the state reopened on November 17, while medical and paramedical colleges reopened on December 1.
Previously, concerns were raised about the state government’s Vidyagama scheme with reports of places like temples not allowing Dalits, menstruating girls, to study. This prompted activists to urge the government to restart schools within school premises.
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