Delhi reopens schools, joins 12 states, UTs

New Delhi, February 14

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With schools in the national capital reopening for classes starting nursery through Class XII on Monday, 12 States and UTs have fully operationalised schools taking the first steps towards recovering two years of lost learning.

Schools reopened for nursery up to Class 8 in New Delhi on Monday. Classes for grades 9 to 12 students had earlier started in Delhi on February 7.

With the third wave of Covid-19 ebbing, schools in Jammu and Kashmir also resumed offline classes on Monday, with Classes 9 to 12 operational.

In Karnataka’s Udupi too, several schools reopened after a week-long closure on account of the Hijab row.

The reopening of schools would mean bringing 320 million affected children back on the learning track after over two years of lost learning.

The UNICEF has been advocating reopening of schools. The Indian experts on February 3 said it was up to states to reopen schools with Covid protocols intact.

With Monday’s school openings,schools are fully functional in 12 states, partially (with higher classes) in 17 states and closed in nine states.

New Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh, MP, Sikkim, Karnataka, Telangana, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, and Assam are running schools.

Schools are closed in Punjab, Bihar, UP, Puducherry, Jharkhand, Ladakh, J&K, Odisha, and Delhi.

Nationally, over 95 per cent teaching and non-teaching staff are vaccinated. This figure is 100 per cent in some states and UTs, including Ladakh.

The education ministry earlier issued modified guidelines for reopening of schools saying states and UTs can decide whether schools are required to take parental consent for the students to attend physical classes.

In previous guidelines dated October 5, 2020, parental consent was mandatory for students to attend in-person classes.

Modified guidelines require the term “physical distancing” to be used instead of social distancing.

Under new guidelines gatherings should be in accordance with SOPs, group activities like games, music, and dance can be allowed with SOPs, specific markings should be made at sufficient distance to manage queues, necessary precautions may be taken for children with comorbidities and school drivers and conductors in containment zones should not be allowed to board vehicles.

States and UTs would need to ensure proper cleaning of school premises, physical distancing in all spaces, masks for students; mandatory physical distancing during midday meal distribution; sanitisation of school transport vehicles; keeping adequate distance between hostel beds; screening of hostellers before they stay inside.

Students willing to study from home with the consent of parents will be allowed to do so along with attendance flexibility.