Schools in Delhi have remained shut since last year owing to Covid. (Representational)
With Delhi consistently reporting low daily Covid case counts, an expert committee has been formed to examine if schools in the national capital shall be reopened now.
The decision was taken today at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which has been designing the city's response to the pandemic.
The committee will comprise experts as well as officials from education and health departments.
It will be responsible for preparing Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for schools and also advising them on the preparations required to implement them.
The committee's objectives include ensuring that all students and school staff are vaccinated and addressing parents' concerns regarding the safety of their children.
This development comes after the Delhi government sought responses from parents, students and teachers on whether the schools should reopen. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Monday that they had received 35,000 suggestions, many of them favouring a return to in-person classes.
Schools in Delhi and the rest of the country have remained shut for about one-and-a-half years owing to the Covid pandemic. The situation has thrown up several challenges, including the impact on students' mental health to a digital divide that has prevented many students from joining virtual classes. Schools in some states had opened for offline classes late last year but they had to be shut when the deadly second wave of Covid infections struck.
With Covid cases now dropping, Delhi has relaxed most restrictions on public movement and outdoor activities. The city yesterday reported 61 new Covid cases and two deaths over the past 24 hours. The number of active cases in the national capital currently stands at 518.