Pune: Primary schools in city to reopen for offline classes from tomorrow

“It has been decided to reopen schools in the city from December 16 in adherence with Covid guidelines,” said Mayor Murlidhar Mohol on Tuesday.

The decision to reopen primary schools from December 16 was taken after holding discussions with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar.

Earlier, the PMC, as per directions of the state government, had decided to reopen primary schools for classroom teaching in the city from December 1, but postponed it due to an alert by the World Health Organisation (WHO) over emergence of the Omicron variant.

The decision to reopen classroom teaching for primary schools will be applicable for all schools in the jurisdiction of the PMC, Pune Cantonment Board and Kirkee Cantonment Board. The schools have been closed for the last one-and-half years since the beginning of the pandemic.

“The schools have been issued guidelines and a standard operating procedure. They will have to perform it strictly to contain the spread of Covid-19. The situation is presently under control,” Mohol said.

Till now, two patients have been diagnosed with Omicron in the city, and one of them has recovered. There are a total of 739 active Covid-19 patients in the city as on December 14, with 85 in critical condition and 54 on oxygen therapy. A total of 71 new cases were reported on December 14, while no new deaths due to the infection were reported.

Colleges in the city, as well as schools from Class 8 to 12, are open for offline teaching but there has been poor response from students and parents, due to which most of the teaching is still being carried out online. It is necessary for students to have consent letters from their parents before attending offline classes in schools and colleges, according to the rules.