Pre-primary classes to restart in Punjab schools from Feb 1

Punjab school education minister Vijay Inder Singla on Friday said that following the conditional approval of the state government, pre-primary classes at all government, aided and private schools will restart from February 1

Punjab school education minister Vijay Inder Singla on Friday said that following the conditional approval of the state government, pre-primary classes at all government, aided and private schools will restart from February 1.

Students of a government school in Ludhiana after the primary wing was reopened on January 27. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

The schools would function from 10am to 3pm after 10 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The school education department had on Wednesday announced to restart primary classes at all schools from January 27. Students of Classes 3 and 4 were allowed to attend school from January 27, while those of Classes 1 and 2 were to return to classrooms from February 1, it had said.

Earlier this month, the state government had reopened schools for Classes 5 to 12.

With this, all schools will be fully functional in the state for the first time after the institutions were shut down in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The minister claimed that as parents have supported the decision of the Capt Amarinder Singh-led government on reopening schools, he has directed the education department officials and school managements to strictly comply with the Covid-19 safety guidelines.

In an official statement, he said that the schools have been asked to prepare special seating plans keeping social distancing in mind apart from compliance of other safeguards.