Schools to reopen for younger students in Maharashtra

Proposed SOPs by Maharashtra Government include staggered school hours, social distancing in classrooms, and establishing school clinics , among other things

The decision

On Friday, the Maharashtra government decided to resume physical education in schools from October 4,State Education Minister  Varsha Gaikwad said, adding that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray approved the decision. 

After consulting health authorities, Gaikwad made the latest decision, and the state government’s Covid19 working group said.

Four thousand four hundred forty-four schools are gradually reopening, and classes will resume in rural areas for students aged 5 to 12 and 8 to 12 years in urban areas. The Maharashtra government is working hard to get children back to school.

Physical education would not be resumed for standards 1 to 7 in urban areas and 1 to 4 in rural areas. 

Gaikwad also said that they empowered local authorities to make decisions based on the local situation.

“We had several meetings with the task force and created a comprehensive SOP to provide a safe environment for students,” he said. According to a survey by the Ministry of Education, more than 70% of parents favoured reopening schools, Gaikwad said. 

 In July of this year, the state government allowed schools to resume physical education in rural areas where the prevalence of Covid19 was negligible. The decision mainly benefited the Vidarbha region.

But schools in big cities like Mumbai and Pune remained closed. Gaikwad said the ministry would make a different decision about residential schools run by the tribal development department.

 Deputy Prime Minister Ajit Pawar said on Thursday that universities would gradually reopen after reviewing the Covid19 situation in the state.

In addition, complete vaccination is mandatory for students over 18 years of age. The state government is likely to reopen universities after October 2, while the decision to reopen schools after Diwali isn’t final.

 Speaking to journalists in Pune, Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant said that CM Thackeray had requested reports from the vice-chancellors of state universities about the reopening and that universities could resume face-to-face teaching after Diwali. 

Even if schools across the state reopen, students are not required to attend physical education classes, and parental consent is required to participate.

According to a survey by the Ministry of Education, more than 70 per cent of parents favour reopening schools, said Minister of Education Varsha Gaikwad.

Proposed SOPs include staggered school hours, social distancing in classrooms, and establishing school clinics, among other things. The disinfection of schools, the staggered entry of students, the use of masks is mandatory protocols. 

Exceptions

On Saturday, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said that a decision to reopen schools in the country’s financial capital has yet to declare as a child safety issue is at stake.

Pednekar’s statement came a day after the Uddhav Thackeray government announced that schools across the state would reopen on October 4. 

What experts have to say

Many experts have warned of a more severe impact on children if an impending third wave of the Covid19 pandemic has so far only opened schools for personal tuition in areas where relatively fewer coronavirus cases got reported.

Maharashtra had previously formed a committee to establish guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the reopening of schools.

4,444 Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 3,320 COVID19 cases and 61 deaths on Thursday, bringing the infection count to 65,34,557 and 1,38,725, a Health Ministry official said. With 4,050 patients discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, the number of recoveries rose to 63,53,079.