Maharashtra minister Varsha Gaikwad on Wednesday said a proposal to reopen schools in the state from next week based on the local COVID-19 situations has been sent to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Maharashtra minister Varsha Gaikwad on Wednesday said a proposal to reopen schools in the state from next week based on the local COVID-19 situations has been sent to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The proposal includes the opening of pre-primary schools, she said.
Earlier this month, the Maharashtra government had announced the closure of schools in the state till February 15 as the number of coronavirus cases started spiraling from December amid the emergence of the new Omicron variant. "After COVID cases rose, the government decided not to continue with the school (offline) sessions. But after discussion with the experts, it has been decided to start the sessions where the number of cases is low based on the local COVID-19 situation," Gaikwad said.
"A proposal has been sent to the chief minister. It states that reopening of schools should be considered from Monday and all the power to do so should be given to the local authorities (municipal commissioners, district collectors, chief executive officers, education officers," the school education minister added. A decision on this is expected to be taken this week, she said.
She expressed hope that the chief minister would positively look into the proposal. Stressing the need to inoculate students in the age group of 15 to 18 years, the minister urged teaching and non-teaching staff to get fully vaccinated.
With inputs from PTI