Schools to start functioning in Maharashtra from January 24
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The Maharashtra Government has decided to make offline classes operational again for students of Classes 1 to 12 from January 24, 2022 across the state, said Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad, according to an ANI Report.
The tweet uploaded by ANI read, "From January 24, 2022, we will be opening schools for Classes 1 to 12 while adhering to Covid-appropriate behavior; The Maharashtra CM has agreed to our proposal: Varsha Gaikwad, Maharashtra School Education Minister".
Notably, a Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) of Aurangabad had written to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray, urging him to reconsider the decision of shutting down schools and colleges. The MLC had also depicted the students' ordeals by mentioning that the closure of educational institutions is forcing the boys to work in fields, while the parents of the girl students are marrying them off at an early age.
Suggesting preventive measures to ensure the safety of students from Covid infections, the Council further requested the Chief Minister to resume classes in Maharashtra schools with 50% capacity. It is noteworthy that earlier, on January 8, Maharashtra government had declared the relaxation of offline academic activities in all institutions of the state till February 15 amidst the Omicron scare. However, in view of the MLC's letter to the CM and the filing of a petition by parents of numerous students to resume classes in Maharashtra, the state government has decided to take a call on the decision.
Some of them are seeking the resumption of classes in schools as the Maharashtra board Class 10, 12 exams are round the corner. The Maharashtra SSC exam is slated to begin from March 15, whereas the HSC exam has been scheduled to begin from March 4, 2022.
As per some reports, Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad had directed Maharashtra districts to make decisions on school operations. Post this, classes for standards 1 to 9 and standard 11 were halted till January 31 in Mumbai, as the city recorded a spike in the Omicron variant cases. Similarly, Nashik and Pune districts had also resorted to school closure.
