Nagpur: Maharashtra schools are all set to resume in Maharashtra from December 1 after being closed for more than a year. The announcement was made by state education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Thursday.
Gaikwad added that the decision was finalized by the state cabinet minister after consulting with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as well as paediatric task force constituted by the Maharashtra government. Earlier only classes 8 to 12 were allowed to operate in the urban areas and 5 to 12 in the rural areas. The state cabinet has now approved classes 1 to 4 to operate in the rural areas and classes 1 to 7 in the urban areas.
After discussing with the Chief Minister, the cabinet and paediatric task force, the state cabinet has decided to re-open schools from Std 1st to 4th in rural areas and Std 1st to 7th in urban areas from the 1st of December. We are committed to safe resumption of schools.
— Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) November 25, 2021
Gikwad while assuring the students said, “Schools will be held amid strict covid-19 precautions. Classes will not be mandatory while wearing masks and social distancing will be a must. The state government is yet to release detailed SOPs. The guidelines are expected to be released soon.”
On Wednesday, state health minister Rajesh Tope said that the pediatric force set up by the state government was in favour of resuming physical schools for classes 1 to 4. He had indicated that the final decision of resuming the classes will be taken by a meeting between the chief minister and the state cabinet. Tope further insisted that the child task force should allow students to start classes 1 to 4 in compliance with social distancing.
