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The Maharashtra government has decided to reopen schools in areas within the State that are currently free of Covid-19 cases.
Offline classes will begin from next week for schools in Covid-free zones that have not recorded a single case of Covid-19 within the last month, the government order said.
Maharashtra Minister of School Education, Varsha Gaikwad, said on Twitter, “It has become a need of the hour to have a co-educational approach to reach out to the children of the last strata of the state" (translated from Marathi). Gaikwad shared the government order on Twitter.
"As a first step, villages which have not had Covid-19 cases for more than a month and where the gram panchayat resolves to adopt Covid-appropriate behaviour in consensus with parents/ guardians, will be permitted to reopen classrooms for standard 8 to12 from uly 15," she added.
The government has mandated the formation of an eight-member committee consisting of local collectors, school principals and health officials to decide on Covid-free zones. The head of the Gram Panchayat areas will head the committee in rural areas.
A committee will also be formed at the district level and schools will need a go-ahead from the committee before reopening.
It will be the responsibility of the sarpanch of a village to ensure that all protocols as required are implemented. Operations will be supervised by the Chief Executive Officer of the local Zilla Parishad, who will take regular reviews.
Schools will need to ensure that only up to 20 students are seated in a class to ensure proper social distancing is followed.
Furthermore, teachers and staff will be required to get vaccinated before schools reopen.
Gaikwad said, “Prior to the commencement of school, corona vaccination of all teachers and non-teaching staff in the respective schools should be done as a matter of priority.”
She further added, “It is mandatory for all to strictly abide by the Corona prevention rules laid down by the state government before starting school. Considering the possibility of a possible third wave, any kind of negligence will not be tolerated.”
Maharashtra reported 9,558 new coronavirus cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday and 147 fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 61,22,893 and the death toll to 1,23,857.
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