It’s been a year since the walls of schools all over the country went numb. It has been a long time now that classes started chirping again with rhymes and stories. It has been time now that corridors experienced children running around the corridors. Long has it been a time now that teachers chided those making ruckus, in person. Online classes which have taken away all the fun, will soon be in the past. Because our beloved offline classes are making a return in our lives.
Offline classes in Maharashtra to reopen on August 17th
Maharashtra state education minister Varsha Gaikwad recently said schools in both rural and urban areas will reopen from August 17. With this announcement, Maharashtra has joined the list of states who have reopened their schools for offline classes.
“Offline classes will commence in rural areas for students from classes 5 to 8, while those in cities will be for students from classes 8 to 12 following Covid-19 protocols,” Gaikwad said. On-campus classes, however, will be allowed only in the areas where Covid-19 infections are consistently low, the minister noted.
Gaikwad’s announcement comes at a time when two other states, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, also laid out plans for resuming on-campus classes. Over the past few days, schools in several other states, including Punjab, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh, have reopened.
Guidelines issued by the Government
In July the state government had listed out various guidelines for allowing schools to reopen. The list of guidelines included allowing only a maximum of 15 to 20 students in a classroom at once. Schools are also required to ensure a distance of at least six feet between two students. The use of masks is made compulsory and students are also advised to wash their hands frequently.
As the schools are reopening the college-going students are also waiting for colleges to reopen. state Higher and Technical Education Minister, Mr. Uday Samant had said that the state government was trying to draw up a plan for reopening colleges for offline classes. “Since a university has a large area with several districts under it, and the Covid-19 situation in every district is different, we need to chalk out a plan for the reopening of colleges, depending on the situation on the ground,” Mr. Samant Said.
So, all in all, good news for students, ain’t it?
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