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Assam to start in-person classes in schools for class 10 from September 20
Assam’s education minister said if the Covid-19 situation remained under control in the coming days, resumption of in-person learning for other classes would take place too
The Assam government on Thursday allowed resumption of in-person lessons for students of class 10 in schools from September 20, citing improved Covid-19 containment and expanding vaccination cover in the state.
The state government had earlier allowed regular in-person classes for final year students of graduation, post-graduation and higher-secondary educational institutions from the first week of September.
“From Monday, regular classes for students of class 10 will resume. A detailed set of guidelines will be released this week. Each section shouldn’t comprise more than 30 students,” education minister Ranoj Pegu said after the cabinet meeting.
“Other safety precautions like santization of class rooms and adherence to Covid-19 containment protocols would remain in place. If one class has more than 30 students, they have to hold classes in two separate rooms,” he added.
Pegu said that if the Covid-19 situation remained under control in the coming days, resumption of in-person learning for other classes would also take place. He asked students to be prepared to attend classes soon.
“Classes for other students, resumed earlier, have been functioning well without any issues and if the situation continues like this, then the education department will decide on starting classes for other students as well,” he said.
Earlier this month, the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) had decided to reduce this year’s curriculum for class 10 by 40% in view of problems faced by students due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Assam has been recording around 500 fresh Covid-19 cases and 5-10 related deaths daily, on an average, for the past two weeks. The test positivity rate has remained below 1% for most days during this time. There are around 4,000 active cases of the infection in the state at present.
Till Wednesday evening, Assam had administered over 20.7 million Covid-19 vaccine doses including 16.8 million first dose and 3.9 million second dose.
