The educational system has undergone a massive change since the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools, colleges, and other institutions have remained shut for a very long time now. Earlier this year, with the sudden hike in COVID cases due to the onset of the second wave, schools that were previously opened for a brief period had to be shut down once again. So, the time of resumption of schools, colleges, and other educational institutes is bothering students and parents alike. Here is the plan of action stated by five states including Maharashtra, Delhi NCR, Punjab, Bihar, and Haryana.
Maharashtra
The Maharashtra government has decided to open schools in areas where no active Covid cases have been highlighted over the last month. Schools have been told to resume offline classes for students of classes 8 to 12 starting from July 15. The teaching and non-teaching staff will be vaccinated on priority before the commencement of school. This decision was made unanimously with the gram panchayat declaring the village corona free.
Delhi NCR
Schools in Delhi were closed in April this year and summer vacation was declared concerning the rapid increase in COVD cases. From June 28, schools in the region had resumed classroom learning by implementing a staggered three-stage approach to ease the learning process for students. The plan of action for the resumption of schools involves the following:
Worksheets and online classes will be utilized in order to assess the academic standing of students with the aim of helping them ease into classroom learning.
Haryana
The Haryana government has announced that schools will reopen for classes 9 to 12 from July 16 with social distancing norms in place. For classes 6 to 8, the classes will resume from July 23. Students who wish to continue virtually will have access to online classes. Written permission by parents would be required for students to attend school. The schools for classes 1 to 5 will remain closed and the decision regarding their reopening will be taken at a later stage.
Punjab
The schools in Punjab had started classroom teaching in January for classes 5 to 8. Not all students were in favour of this decision and teachers had to conduct online classes as a result. In May, the Punjab State Education Minister announced that summer vacations will begin for all educational institutions from May 24 and continue till June 23.
Bihar
The government has put in a three-stage unlock plan for educational institutes. The first phase would include all universities and colleges to open with 50% attendance. The second stage will allow all senior secondary and secondary classes to resume offline classes. In the final stage, classes 1 to 5 will be allowed to resume offline classes. This plan depends on the progression of the COVID situation in the state.
Recently, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also used Twitter to announce the information on the reopening of schools and colleges. He said, “Universities, all colleges, technical educational institutions, government training institutes, schools up to class 11th and 12th will open with 50% attendance. Special arrangements will be made for vaccination of adult students and girl students, teachers and staff of educational institutions.”