PremiumThis comes as the central government on 3 February issued revised guidelines for the reopening of schools, allowing the states to take the final call based on their overall Covid situation
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As Covid-19 cases dip across the country, states have started gradual reopening of various activities, including education institutions, that were shut in late December and early January.
This comes as the central government on 3 February issued revised guidelines for the reopening of schools, allowing the states to take the final call based on their overall Covid situation.
The Centre has said that all districts whose Covid-19 positivity rate is below 5% can reopen schools now.
“The pandemic situation has improved. There are states and districts of concern, but overall there is a contraction in the spread of infection which is heartening. There are 268 districts where the positivity is below 5%," said Niti Ayog member (health) VK Paul.
"And clearly, these districts can move in the direction of non-Covid care and also in the direction of other economic activities as well as school reopening," he added.
Noting that the nation is concerned that there has been a significant learning loss, Paul said schools should be open at the "earliest opportunity but also appropriate time".
He stated that while the final decision for reopening of schools rests with the state governments, the Centre would still like to ensure that schools are opened and run in compliance with standard operating procedures.
In view of this, several states have announced that schools will reopen from Monday.
Check the full list here:
Odisha: The Odisha government on Friday announced its decision to re-open schools and colleges from 7 February.
"After reviewing the current Covid-19 situation and loss of learning faced by students, the state government has decided to re-open schools and colleges," said Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, the chief secretary.
Delhi: Schools in Delhi will reopen for classes 9 to 12 from 7 February, while that of the nursery to standard 8 from 14 February, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has decided.
Kerala: The Kerala government has decided to start offline classes for students of standard 10, 11 and 12, and universities from Monday. The classes for children from standard 1 to 9, creche and kindergarten will start from 14 February.
Maharashtra: Schools and colleges in Maharashtra's Pune will open full day (regular hours) from Monday.
Gujarat: All government, private and grant-in-aid schools in Gujarat will reopen for classes 1 to 9 from 7 February, said the state government in a circular on Saturday.
Uttar Pradesh: The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to reopen schools from Monday for classes 9 to 12.
Bihar: The Bihar government has announced that schools up to class 8 can re-open with 50% capacity and all schools for classes 9 and above will re-open at full capacity.
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