The Odisha government on Sunday said it was withholding its decision to reopen primary schools (Classes I to V) from Monday amid a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases in the state.
Earlier, the government had announced schools for students of Classes I to V would reopen from Monday.
School and mass education minister S.R. Dash making the announcement said that all the 27,000 primary schools in the state had been sanitised.
However, the state health department protested the decision citing a surge in corona cases. Following a re- examination of the prevailing scenario, the state government decided to backtrack from its decision.
“Our Director of Medical Education and Training had earlier indicated that the government would not be able to open the primary schools. We don’t want to take any risk,” said a senior official.
Offline classes for VI to X would continue and examination for the students from Class VIII to Class X would start from January 5.
On Sunday, the state reported 23 cases of omicron. So far, 37 omicron cases have been reported in the state. The total number of active coronavirus cases in the state touched 2,078 with a report of 423 new cases during the last 24 hours. The state has reported 8,463 Covid deaths with the reported death of one person on Sunday.
While parents have welcomed the decision teachers are worried that this might hit the school education system itself. “I have been a teacher for the last 15 years. Though the government has closed down the schools keeping health into consideration, education has been badly hit. No amount of online classes will replace the direct form of teaching. The students are being affected by the closure of classes. We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best,” said Saroj Das, a schoolteacher.
