Nagpur: Maharashtra education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Wednesday hinted that the schools in the state might shut again if the Omicron cases continue to rise in the state.
While speaking to the reporters, Gaikwad said the government might take a call of shutting the schools again if the cases continue to rise.
The education minister told ANI, “If Omicron cases continue to rise, we may take a call to shut the schools again. We are monitoring the situation.”
The schools in the state opened from December 1 and from December 15 in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik and other districts. India till now has reported 213 cases of the newly-discovered Omicron variant. Most of the cases have been reported from Delhi—57 and then Maharashtra—54.
The Maharashtra government decided to reopen schools again after a survey revealed that almost 70 per cent of the parents wanted the schools to reopen. However, the students as well as the parents were given an option for online classes.
Schools for classes 8 to 12 started in November, however, classes 1 to 7 started from December. In the latest, two schools in Nagpur city were shut after one student from each school tested positive for Covid-19.