Odisha government withholds decision to reopen schools for Classes 1 to 5

Amid the looming danger of a third wave and rising cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19, the Odisha government on Sunday announced that it was withholding its previous decision to resume offline classes for students in Classes 1 to 5 from Monday. This decision was taken after officials from the state education department visited various primary schools across the state and held talks with the stakeholders.

"Keeping in view the rise in a number of daily cases and based on the feedback provided by parents across the state, we have decided not to reopen schools for students of Classes 1 to 5 from January 3," said school and mass education minister SR Dash said in a statement.  Meanwhile, the physical classes for students belonging to classes 6 to 10 will continue in the same pattern now, and the offline examination, as scheduled earlier, will be conducted under strict COVID-19 measures, he added.

COVID situation Odisha and other states

COVID cases across the country are on the rise. Several states have reported hundreds of Omicron cases. Odisha recorded a total of 424 fresh coronavirus cases. Among 424 cases, 76 COVID cases included children under 18 years of age. Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has also announced that it will shut down all schools, colleges, and other educational institutions on Monday, January 3, 2022. This closure of schools and other educational institutions was announced by the Chief Secretary of the State, HK Dwivedi.

"All academic activities in schools, colleges, and universities shall remain closed. Only administrative activities shall be permitted with 50% of the employees at a time," the government order reads.

Image: PTI, Representative

With Inputs from PTI