The Maharashtra government on Friday declared that the decision on reopening schools will have to be taken by the local administration, considering the coronavirus situation in their cities and districts
All schools in Mumbai, including private and government schools, will continue to remain shut till December 31, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to not allow reopening of schools from November 23, as declared by the state for Classes 9 to 12. The decision was taken by BMC as a precautionary measure to control the spread of Covid-19 in the city in the backdrop of a possible second wave.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government on Friday declared that the decision on reopening schools will have to be taken by the local administration, considering the coronavirus situation in their cities and districts. Mumbai has recorded 2.72 lakh Covid-19 cases and more than 10,600 deaths.
School education minister Varsha Gaikwad said, “The state government has taken a decision on reopening physical classes of Class 9 to 12 students, but for schools, local administration will have to take a decision. Districts having coronavirus cases should take a decision after discussing with all the concerned authorities such as district collectors, education officials etc. They are directed to take a call considering both the health and studies of the students.”
“Online classes will continue even if physical classes cannot be started due to the pandemic crisis in schools,” Gaikwad added.
The state government on November 7 decided to resume physical classroom sessions for Class 9 to 12 students from November 23. However, there will be no daily classes as schools have been directed to open every alternate day and that too, only for four hours.
BMC’s public relations department confirmed that all schools will remain shut in the city till December 31.
A detailed circular in this regard, however, mentioned that the ongoing supplementary examination for Class 10 and 12 will be undertaken as per schedule but the regular Classes for 9 to 12 will remain shut till December 31.
A BMC official said, “Considering BMC is the local body for Mumbai, we have taken the decision to keep the schools shut. We have also studied the pattern of Covid-19 spread in other parts of the country post schools were reopened, and hence have decided to keep them shut till December 31.”
Sandhya Doshi, Shiv Sena corporator and education committee chairman of BMC, said, “There are discussions that we might hit the second wave soon. We studied the situation in other parts of the country, including Delhi, before arriving at this decision.”
A similar trend of spike post reopening of schools was witnessed in parts of the country. For example, Andhra Pradesh has witnessed a similar trend of spike post reopening of schools.
