Updated: November 7, 2020 9:15:52 am
Class X students at a private school in Noida. (Express / file)
Whether or not to reopen schools, even for seniors, from Class IX to Class XII, is the big question facing states. While Maharashtra on Friday said it was considering starting physical classes in schools from November 23, Odisha suspended an earlier decision to reopen schools after November 15, and Gujarat said it was preparing an SOP for physical classes in upper classes as of November 18.
At least two states, Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh, reported Covid cases among teachers and students after the schools reopened, raising new concerns among parents and administrators. In Uttarakhand, where classes for Class X and Class XII began again on Monday, more than 80 teachers from 20 government schools in the Pauri Garhwal district tested positive for the new coronavirus.
On Friday, the administration closed schools in the four affected blocks of the Pauri Garhwal district for five days and ordered contact tracing to check if the infection had spread among students who attended classes taken by teachers who tested positive.
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In Andhra Pradesh, where schools reopened on November 2, around 600 students and 830 teachers tested positive for Covid in the past four days. However, the state plans to continue classes, Education Minister Audimulapu Suresh said. “Students and teachers who showed symptoms of Covid were sent for tests and some tested positive in the last four days. Not that they were spread in schools. We are taking extreme precautions to keep students and staff safe and classes will continue, ” said Joint Director (Education) Pratap Reddy.
School Education Commissioner V Chinna Veerabhadrudu said there was no need to be alarmed because of more than 5 lakh of students attending schools, only 262 had tested positive as of November 4. Classes VI to VIII will begin on November 23, and for students in Class IV, school will begin on December 14. All institutions of higher education, including colleges and universities, have also started operating in the state.
Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad announced November 23 as the tentative date for the physical start of schools and colleges across the state for classes IX to XII, and said that a POE had been prepared. “Schools will start operating only after parental consent and in accordance with health and safety guidelines,” he said.
Read also | Uttarakhand: 80 government school teachers test positive for Covid in Pauri
Gaikwad also said that the Class X and Class XII exams should take place in May 2021, rather than February or March. These exams in the regular course are conducted by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Education (MSBSHSE) in February and March.
In Odisha, the administration reversed an earlier decision to reopen schools in November, two days after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik raised concerns about a possible second wave of Covid in the state. The state projects the second wave between December 15 and January 15. Another reason that influenced the decision was the recent cases between students and teachers in Andhra Pradesh after the reopening of schools, an official said.
Odisha School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said the decision to reopen schools has been postponed for the time being. “The Special Aid Commissioner had ordered that upper secondary classes can reopen after November 15. Our department had started working on SOPs. But now, it has been suspended for an indefinite period of time. Reopening schools can be a threat to both students and teachers, ”Dash said.
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