BHUBANESWAR: In the wake of the surge in Covid-19 infections in Maharashtra, the higher education department and the school and mass education department have adopted a a wait and watch policy as the cases are fast declining in Odisha.
The higher education department has allowed the first and second year students of post graduate (PG) courses and the second and final year students of undergraduate (UG) courses to appear for classes physically in colleges and universities of the state . Similarly, the school and mass education department has allowed offline classes for the school students of Classes IX to XII.
The government had closed all educational institutions since March 16 due to Covid restrictions, and later it reopened them in a phased manner from the second week of January. The schools have not yet reopened for physical classes for the students of Class I-VIII.
“We are following the standard operating procedure (SOP) in schools while holding physical classes. We are aware of the situation in Maharashtra and we are taking precautions. The government will take appropriate steps keeping the situation in mind,” school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash said.
Higher education department sources said they were not in a hurry to press the panic button because the Covid situation is far better in state than Maharashtra. “We have not taken any decision regarding closing the institutes agin. Our classes are going on smoothly with all the precautions,” an official of the department said.
Odisha has reported 53 Covid positive cases within the last 24 hours. Khurda district, including Bhubaneswar, has reported only three Covid cases. As many as 13 districts did not report any cases on Friday. The state has 658 active cases. However, Maharashtra has reported over 5,400 cases on Thursday.