Maharashtra schools to reopen after Diwali | Photo Credit: Representative Image
Maharashtra Prime Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced on Sunday that Maharashtra schools will reopen after Diwali while all precautionary measures are taken. Schools for classes 9 to 12 would reopen after a 7-month interval from November 23, 2020. Teachers will have to undergo an RT-PCR test for Covid19 from November 17 to 22.
Chief Minister Thackeray said precautions such as disinfection of school facilities and medical checks of teachers would be carried out before the schools reopen. Furthermore, it stated that students who are sick or who have sick limbs at home, should not be sent to schools by their parents in this period. The Department of School Education would soon publish detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding the reopening of schools.
School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said Sunday that only one child will be able to sit on a single bench and that classes will be held on alternate days. The state education minister also said that students will be asked to come to schools after eating at home and will have to bring their own water bottles. School hours will be reduced to four hours, in which only science, math and English subjects will be taught. For other subjects, online learning would continue. For now, schools for other classes would begin in due course in phases.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra SSC, HSC Board Exams 2021 would take place in May 2021. Gaikwad a few days ago in an interview said that the Maharashtra 2021 Board exams are not possible before May due to the pandemic. The state government has already reduced the syllabus for the SSC and HSC exams by 25 percent to make up for lost time.
