This Article is From Dec 27, 2021

With Rising Omicron Cases, Will Physical Classrooms Be Shut Again?

School Closure Updates: Schools and colleges in Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and other states have reopened in a phased manner, but now as Covid’s new variant is spreading rapidly, state governments may take the decision to close schools and colleges again

With Rising Omicron Cases, Will Physical Classrooms Be Shut Again?

State-wise school updates (Representational)

School Closure Updates: Educational institutions are reopening after being shut for almost two years. Schools and colleges in Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and other states have reopened in a phased manner but now as Covid's new variant is spreading rapidly, state governments may take the decision to close schools and colleges again. However, there is no official statement in this regard yet. Delhi schools for classes up to 5 were allowed to reopen from today by the CAQM, but the government has not taken any decision yet.

In many states like Maharashtra, some schools are shut after students are found Covid positive. 19 students were found to be infected with Covid at Maharashtra's Jawahar Navodaya school, Ahmednagar. After this, 450 students were tested for the virus and 52 people from the school were found infected. The school was shut and the area has been declared a containment zone.

Similarly, 13 students of MIT World Peace University, Pune were tested positive for coronavirus. "As we follow strict measures, we screen our students at the main gate (of the institution). During the screening, one student was found to be having a runny nose and he was immediately sent back and his parents were asked to get his RT-PCR test done," the official said.

In view of such cases, it can be a chance that the government decides to shut physical classes and continue working in online mode.

State governments like Karnataka have said that all the events in educational institutes will be postponed till January 15. Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh also said that the state government will stop exams and schools if the situation arises.

Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said that most of the schools reopened from December 1 and schools in Mumbai opened from December 15. State government might order to shut the schools again if Omicron cases rise.

CBSE, ICSE, many educational boards are going to conduct the board examinations 2022 in between February to April, but due to the Omicron scare, the board exam schedule might get affected as well. However, CBSE has already announced that if at the time of term 2 exam which is scheduled in March/April, the situation is adverse, the exams will be shifted to the online mode or students will be marked on the basis of term 1 marks.

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