New Delhi: Schools in several states are now going to reopen from February 1 as the number of coronavirus cases steadily dropping. Over 10 months after being shut due to the outbreak, students now will be able to go to school and attend classes physically.
Here is a compiled list of states that have decided to reopen schools in the coming months:
Gujarat:
Preparations are underway to reopen schools for Classes 9 and 11 in Gujarat from February 1 as directed by the state government.
“We will be allowing 15 students in each classroom and classes will be held thrice a week,” said Srishti Patel, an administrative officer of a school in Ahmedabad. She said classes for 9 and 11 and 10 and 12 will be held on alternate days.
Maharashtra
Municipal corporations of Thane and Pune districts in Maharashtra have decided to reopen schools from January 27 and February 1 respectively with strict coronavirus guidelines. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) allowed the reopening of schools for Classes 5th to 8th from February 1, while in Thane, students of Classes 5th to 8th have to attend school from January 27.
Andhra Pradesh
The Andhra Pradesh government has granted permission for the reopening of classes 1 to 5 from February 1. The schools will function full day for elementary classes. According to the guidelines, each section should have only 20 students. Schools for classes 6 to 12 and colleges in the state re-opened in November last year.
Punjab
Following the conditional approval of the state government, all government, aided, and private schools are set to reopen for class 1 and 2 and pre-primary classes from February 1,” a statement from the state government quoting Punjab School Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said. Students from Class 5 to 12 had started going to school on January 7.
Haryana
Schools in Haryana will reopen for Classes 6 to 8 from February 1, according to an order issued by the Department of School Education. For Classes 6 to 8, schools timings will be between 10 am to 1.30 pm. Students will have to bring a certificate from any health centre or a doctor to certify that they do not have any COVID-like symptoms. They will also have to bring a written consent from their parents before coming to schools. Students who wish to continue their studies through the online mode, as has been imparted to them during the past 10 months, can avail this facility as before.
Telangana
Telangana is going to reopen the schools for Class 9 to 12 in February. Earlier, the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had announced the reopening of college classes from February 1.
Meghalaya
The northeastern state is all set to resume classes for higher education institutions from February 1. To be noted, most of the schools of Meghalaya have already resumed offline classes earlier this year.
Jammu and Kashmir
The SOP to resume classes from February has been announced and higher education institutions in the summer zone of the Jammu region will resume the offline classes for grade 10 to 12 from February 1. Whereas, in the Kashmir Division and winter zone areas of Jammu Division, the higher education institutions will resume offline classes on February 15.
Karnataka
Schools in Karnataka is all set to reopen from February 1 for Class 9, 10, and Pre-University classes.
Himachal Pradesh
The classes for 8-12 in schools is now set to reopen from February 1. Schools that lie on hilly region in the state and have longer winter vacations will resume classes from February 15.
