Vinod Rao, secretary of state education department said there was no immediate plan to reopen schools. The Gujarat Government is considering reopening of schools after Diwali.
“We are not doing this immediately. We will consider reopening schools only after Diwali (vacation) after assessing the coronavirus situation,” Rao told. Also, he said that the education department is in touch with representatives of parents as well as school associations over the reopening of school. The state government had earlier decided against reopening schools from September 21 as per the Centre’s Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that allowed students to visit schools to take guidance from teachers with parents’ permission.
“The Centre’s guideline to reopen schools from October 15 cannot be implemented in Gujarat given its COVID-19 situation. It will be too early to open schools, especially for students below Class 10,” said Jatin Bharad, vice- president of the Self-financed Schools Management Association of Gujarat. Even if the government and schools agree to resume classes, parents are unwilling, he said. “If parents do not take responsibility, then schools are not going to do so, because they have to manage hundreds of students, and even one infected student can put them and their family members in danger,” Bharad said. If the situation improves in October, one can expect schools to reopen in the second half of November, after Diwali, he said.
“Nearly half of the current academic year has already passed as schools remain closed. We have requested the state education minister to consider granting mass promotion to students so that they can begin their next academic calendar without any setback,” Shah said.
“At the same time, the government should ensure that the board exams of Classes 10 and 12 are held on time in March next year,” he added.
