Three More Indian States Reopened Educational Institutions

Three more Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Uttarakhand have reopened all higher educational institutions including universities and affiliated colleges from November 2.

The decision of reopening educational institutions followed a slight decline in the identification of positive Covid-19 cases recently, reports local media outlet Times of India.

As per the reports, offline classes will be conducted for senior-class students only while the online classes will go on for junior ones in order to check the possible spread of the virus.

Earlier schools in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Sikkim reopened their doors to students from October 19 with a hiatus of about 6 months over the coronavirus pandemic.

Since then, students in the states have been attending their respective classes on limited schedule set by the state authorities.

School re-openings in Andhra Pradesh : Educational institutions in the state got re-opened after a gap of five months. Unlike alternate half days for schools, colleges will function on all six days of the week. Classes for first year professional and non-professional undergraduate courses will begin from December 1 following a new academic calendar which is released by the authority.

Assam educational institutions reopen : In the state, all educational institutions Assam reopened on with strict Covid-19 guidelines after over seven months of closure.  According to the officials of the state Education Department, the students of classes 6, 8 and 12 would attend teaching on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and the rest three days are reserved for class 7,9 and 11.

The first batch of the students would come at 8 am and stay up to 12 noon and the second batch will come at 12.30 pm and stay up to 3.30 pm. The SOP (standard Operating Procedure) also includes a staggered timetable for general colleges, engineering colleges, polytechnic institutions and IITs and the final decision will be taken by the college authorities.

However, online mode of education would continue for students who prefer to attend the same rather than physically attending the schools.

Schools reopen for 10th, 12th students in Uttarakhand : A total of 3,791 senior secondary schools reopened in the shate for 10th and 12th standard students. Students will only be allowed to attend classes after written permission from parents.

According to the state education minister, due to the changed circumstances amid the pandemic, the teaching format within the classrooms has also been changed in the SOP. Students will gradually be brought into the mainstream after classes resume.

Over the next two-three weeks, online studies and other educational activities will be reviewed. Students will get used to school life again in new normal, says R Meenakshi Sundaram, State Secretary for Education Department.