Gaikwad: School for Class 4 and below will reopen after assessing safety of students

On a visit to schools in Pune and rural areas on Wednesday, Maharashtra education minister Varsha Gaikwad declared that schools for classes four and below will be reopened after assessing the reopening of classes five to eight in terms of safety of students

On a visit to schools in Pune and rural areas on Wednesday, Maharashtra education minister Varsha Gaikwad declared that schools for classes four and below will be reopened after assessing the reopening of classes five to eight in terms of safety of students.

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“After assessing the gradual reopening of classes five to eight, we will make a decision about classes one to four, but our priority is the safety of students. We have laid out the standard operating procedures, which schools and teachers have to strictly follow,” said Gaikwad.

The minister added that schools in Pune and Mumbai will be reopened after the respective permission of the local bodies.

“The schools are required to follow all the standard operating procedures to maintain the safety of children and staff,” said Gaikwad.

She further highlighted that a few students have faced transportation problems while commuting to schools.

“We will take this up with respective ministers and try to make local transportation available for these students. Commuting to school should not be a hurdle in attending offline classes. We will take stock of the situation with the state transport minister,” said Gaikwad.

Gaikwad was inspecting schools in Pune City to review the situation. She interacted with class 10 students.

She added that the education department will be conducting a survey of school children.

“The most important thing is to track students who are not coming to school. There will be a survey done for students, especially girls. In some schools, there are around 10 per cent students who have dropped. But in some areas, the number has increased. We are dedicated to tracking these students and getting them in the mainstream. The department has started a specific strategy into this matter,” said Gaikwad.

The fee issue is a matter pending in Supreme Court, so Gaikwad denied commenting on it.

Talking about the unfilled posts of teachers, Gaikwad said that important subjects have been identified and teachers for these posts which are around 6,000 will be filled very soon.

She added that the department has made a list of 566 teachers who can counsel students for class 10 and Class 12.

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*On Wednesday, school for class 5 to class 8 reopened in Pune rural.

*Schools on the PMC limits shall reopen from February 1 for classes 5 to 8 with 50 percent attendance. Schools are directed to reopen as per the standard operating procedures (SOP) issued by the state and central government.