Maharashtra schools to reopen in rural, urban areas from December 1: Varsha Gaikwad

Maharashtra Schools Reopening: The Maharashtra education department has decided to reopen schools for classes 1 to 4 in rural areas and 1 to 7 in urban areas from December 1. This decision was taken after Maharashtra Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad met with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the cabinet, and the pediatric task force on Thursday. "After discussing the issue with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the cabinet, and the pediatric task force, we have decided to reopen schools for Classes 1 to 4 in rural areas and Classes 1 to 7 in urban areas from December 1," said Gaikwad. 

She further stated that in the next seven days the authorities will focus on acclimatising schools, parents, and children towards a safe transition to physical classes. "We are committed to the safe resumption of schools. In the next six days, the emphasis will be on acclimatizing schools, parents, and children towards a safe transition to physical classes, as classrooms have been shut for nearly two years. We will be holding consultations with school management committees and parents," she added.

Maharashtra schools to reopen in rural, urban areas from Dec 1, 2021

Before the reopening of the schools, Gaikwad will also hold deliberation with the pediatric task force on the need to revise the old Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for reopening schools for these children. However, the resumption of the schools will be under strict COVID guidance and only those teachers will be allowed who are fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, the Health Minister of Maharashtra Rajesh Tope said, that the country would witness a third wave of COVID pandemic but this time it is likely to be mild. Speaking to a media person, Tope stated that this time people would not require medical oxygen and ICU beds. Maharashtra reported a total of 960 COVID cases followed by 41 death cases taking the total infection cases to 66,32,257 and death toll to 1,40,807.

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