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Schools in Pune will not reopen till January 3
The latest decision has come as most schools had not submitted their report of preparedness, as reported by Hindustan Times on December 12.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Saturday issued order that private and public schools in the city will remain shut till January 3 in view of the Covid pandemic.
The order was released by Pune municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar.
“As per the earlier decision, schools were closed till December 13. Now, all private and government-run schools will remain closed in Pune city till January 3,” said Kumar in his order.
The latest decision has come as most schools had not submitted their report of preparedness, as reported by Hindustan Times on December 12.
The school department of Pune civic body had carried out basic preparation of sanitising premises considering that schools may reopen from December 14. However, PMC received negative response from various private schools’ administration and parents on reopening the premises.
According to Pune mayor Murlidhar Mohol, civic body will review the situation next month and take a call on restarting schools. “It was decided to reopen schools in Pune from December 14. We were taking undertaking from parents about sending their children to schools. However, we received a poor response. Considering this, we have decided to keep school closed till January 3. On January 3, PMC will review the Covid-19 situation and take a call to reopen schools or not,” Mohol said.
Parents have welcomed the move to deferring the decision to restart schools. Pravin Gaikwad, a parent from Pune said, “The decision to reopen schools in January is a welcome decision. We hope Covid cases may lessen by that time and it will be safe for children to attend schools.”
According to Mohol, the pandemic situation in the city is in control. As on December 11, Pune city reported a total of 183,893 positive cases with 4,344 deaths. Since the past one week, the city is reporting around 300 cases daily.
“Even as situation is under control, we cannot claim that all is well. Even parents are not ready to send their kids to school,” he said.
Meanwhile, schools from rural parts of Pune district, which had already reopened last month, has seen a steady rise in student attendance over the past two weeks, according to zilla parishad authorities.
Class 12 exam forms to be submitted online
The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education in its circular issued on Friday has stated that regular students appearing for Class 12 examination can fill up forms for exam to be conducted in summer 2021 between December 15 and January 4. For repeaters, the dates are January 5 to January 18. The forms are to be submitted online, according to the circular.
