Mumbai: Hours after a government resolution (GR) from the school education department was released on the physical reopening of schools for classes 8 to 12 in areas with zero Covid-19 cases, it was removed from the government website. An official from the school education department told HT that the implementation of this GR has been stalled by a few days.“Due to the lockdown, children from across the state have been holed up in their houses and missed out on quality education. Their education is limited to what they learn online, which is leading to other troubles such as addiction to screen time and even depression in some cases. Drop-out rate has increased in rural parts and the only solution for this is reopening of schools in a phased manner,” the GR had stated. It further clarified that schools and junior colleges will follow basic standard operating procedures (SOP) and maintain social distancing and regular temperature checks of students when on campus.

In November last year, the school education department had released a similar circular announcing reopening of schools for classes 9 to 12 in a phased manner. In January this year, another circular was released directing for reopening of physical classes for students from classes 5 to 8 while maintaining Covid-appropriate behavior on campus. “Both the circulars were revoked once Covid-19 cases started rising again and the state government called for another complete lockdown in mid-April,” said a state education department official.

This new GR, however, was quickly removed from the official website. “The Covid situation in the state is still precarious and therefore, reopening of schools cannot be implemented across all districts. We will hold the implementation of this GR by a few weeks until we get a final go-ahead from the state government and the chief minister’s office,” said another official.

School administrations feel that instead of confusing schools and students with reopening rules, classes should continue online till the Covid situation is under control and maximum people are vaccinated. “Reopening schools for some students in some districts while others still study online will cause unnecessary confusion. The state should instead focus on bettering technical infrastructure in rural Maharashtra to ensure that students do not miss out on basic education,” said the principal of a suburban school.