Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty on Saturday said there was no considerable spread of COVID-19 among students in the state and the government's decision to put on hold the offline classes for students of grade 1 to 9 for two weeks was a precautionary step as the viral infection saw a surge in recent days.
The classes would be suspended for two weeks as a precaution and it was applicable to all educational institutions in the southern state, he told a press conference here. Noting that the safety of children was of paramount importance to the government, he said the timetable of the online classes would be restructured as per the new decision. However, there would be no change in the offline classes of 10th, 11th and 12th standards and special arrangements would be made for those children coming to schools, he said. "With this, over 35 lakh students will be staying at home and attend online classes during the period. A high-level meeting of the education Department will convene on Monday and the revised guideline will be issued after that," Sivankutty said. The Minister made it clear that there would be no change in the examination dates of the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) and Higher Secondary, which had already been announced. He also said efforts are being made to vaccinate students as soon as possible and arrangements would be made in collaboration with the Health Department to give them jabs at the schools itself. The KITE-VICTERS, the states education portal, would soon launch a new platform to update the data of vaccination at the school level, Sivankutty added.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU