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Pune schools gear up to reopen from October 4
With over 80% of teaching and non-teaching staff inoculated against Covid-19 in the Pune district, schools are getting ready to reopen from October 4. Detailed order will be issued next week, says civi official
PUNE: With over 80% of teaching and non-teaching staff inoculated against Covid-19 in the Pune district, schools are getting ready to reopen from October 4. Maharashtra education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Friday announced that Classes 8 to 12 in schools will resume in urban areas. While in rural areas, Classes 5 to 12 will begin again from October 4 with schools following all Covid norms and ensuring the safety of students. However, the official order by the district collector and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has not yet been issued.
Harishchandra Gaikwad, president, Pune District Principals’ Association, welcomed the education minister’s move and said, “More than 80% teaching and non-teaching staff in the district is fully vaccinated. The reopening of schools is an important move to ensure that no student suffers any further learning loss. Reopening of schools for Classes 5 to 7 in urban areas should also be considered by the government as many children are facing a lot of issues.”
“However, no official notification from the local bodies has been received yet, he said. “As of now, there is no clarity as to how many hours the school will be functional and how many students will be allowed in each class. All these details are awaited as of now,” Gaikwad said.
Dr Ashish Bharti, chief of the health department at PMC said that teaching and non-teaching staff have been given preference at government vaccination centres. “During the vaccination drive at government centres, teachers and non-teaching staff were and are being given preference with different queues so that their inoculation is faster. So far, over 46,000 teachers in the city limits have received both doses,” said Dr Bharti.
Dnyaneshwar Molak, PMC joint municipal commissioner, said that with directions from the state government, they are considering reopening of schools from October 4.
“The detailed order will be issued next week. Over 80% teaching and non-teaching staff in the city limits has been inoculated. Along with this, a detailed order about sanitisation of schools, social distancing and compulsory wearing of masks by students will be issued for schools very soon. The order will also include how the schools will reopen, how many students will be allowed in each classroom etc. All these details will be included,” said Molak.
