Maharashtra schools reopen: Schools across the state of Maharashtra have finally reopened for classes eight to 12. The schedule for reopening was announced by State School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad last month.
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The schools in Maharashtra, like the rest of India, were closed due to the COVID-19 situation in April last year. While a partial reopening of schools took place earlier this year, the plan was quickly called off as the state saw a massive rise in cases during the second wave of the pandemic.
As per the latest reports, all schools in rural areas of Maharashtra will resume physical classes for standards 5 to 12, while in urban areas it will be open for standards 8 to 12 will open from October 4.
The State School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad had also announced an array of rules and regulations to go along with the reopening of schools in September. Gaikwad also informed the media that the decision was taken after consulting the health officials and the state government's COVID-19 task force.
Here are 10 things to know as Maharashtra schools reopen:
Physical classes have not resumed for standards 1 to 7 in urban areas and standards 1 to 4 in rural areas, as of yet.
Attendance for physical classes is not compulsory for students. The school authorities will provide both offline and online classes.
Students will only be allowed to come to school with the consent of their parents.
For this, every school will have to conduct a parent-teacher meeting to inform the parents about precautions taken by the school authorities.
As per a survey conducted by the school education department, more than 70 percent of the parents are in favour of the school reopening.
According to the Standard Operative Procedure (SOP) provided by the State government, social distancing will be maintained in classrooms.
Also, school health clinics will be set up as preconditions for the reopening of schools. Regular checkups are mandatory and in case a student is detected with a high fever, the student will be shifted to the sick room and the school will have to alert the doctors immediately.
As for the teachers, the government has said that apart from teaching they also need to be trained in handling emergencies as COVID-19 is not over.
Apart from health clinics and face masks mandatory rules, the schools will also have to provide counselling to students complaining or suffering from stress and depression.
These same rules will not apply to the residential schools run by tribal development. Gaikwad said that a separate decision will be taken by that ministry.
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