Summary
Offline classes at schools will resume for students of classes I to XII as the state has witnessed a drop in COVID cases
The state government has shared a standard operating procedure (SOP) with all the schools across Maharashtra and directed them to undertake sanitisation and vaccination on campus before children return to their classes
On-campus classes will resume in schools across Maharashtra from January 24 as the state has witnessed a drop in cases of COVID-19 in the past few days, authorities from the state have said.
In Mumbai, the largest and most populated city in Maharashtra, offline sessions at schools for students of classes I to XII will resume on January 24 in private as well as government schools, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal told PTI.
In-person classes will resume in pre-primary schools too, the commissioner said. “All schools in Mumbai shall open from Monday (January 24)," he added.
Earlier, Maharashtra school education minister Varsha Gaikwad announced that the state government has allowed reopening of schools for classes I to IX for offline teaching from January 24.
As Omicron cases increased and overall caseload began to spiral from the last week of December, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had closed all schools barring classes X and XII from January 3. Students were asked to stay indoors during this period and attend classes online.
"After COVID cases rose, the government decided not to continue with offline classes at schools. But after discussion with the experts, it has been decided to start offline classes in places where the number of COVID cases is low," Gaikwad had said earlier.
A proposal for resuming offline classes in schools across Maharashtra was recently sent to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, and the CM has given his nod to it.
The Maharashtra government has shared a standard operating procedure (SOP) with all the schools and directed them to undertake sanitisation and vaccination on their campus before students return to their classes.
As per data compiled by the Maharashtra health department, the state reported more than 45,000 cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. However, over 52,000 COVID patients also recovered from the infection during this period, indicating that the cases were on a decline.
Health experts and academicians across the globe have also spoken in favour of resuming offline classes in schools, especially in countries like India, where the pandemic may lead to a rise in the number of out-of-school children.
Last updated on 21 Jan 2022
