Schools, colleges won’t reopen on Nov 23

Raging Covid Puts Govt On Back Foot

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:20.11.2020

The state government has decided to revoke its decision to reopen schools and colleges across the state starting November  23. The decision comes at a time when parents and school owners are pressing for their demand to delay reopening of schools till the Covid-19 crisis got under control.

Gujarat joins the list of many other states including Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan that had revoked similar decisions and shut down educational institutions after facing a rising number of Covid-19 cases in school students.

The government’s decision came late on Thursday evening after holding series of discussions with various stakeholders including college authorities and schools.

“I have decided to keep my earlier decision on hold regarding reopening of schools and colleges. They will not reopen on November 23 as announced earlier,” said Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, state education minister.

The decision has been taken keeping in view the rising number of Covid-19 cases and a second wave that is being anticipated shortly. The new date for reopening educational institutions in the state will be announced later on.

The owners of self-financed schools and the parents of school children urged the state government to reconsider the decision of physically reopening schools at a time when the state was witnessing a spike in Covid-19 cases.

The state government, in a cabinet meeting held last week, had decided to re-open schools and colleges across the state from November 23. They were shut down in March due to the pandemic, and they have remained closed ever since.

The colleges offering undergraduate courses were to remain physically shut for a little longer time till the first week of December despite the government decision for re-opening.

The reason for this being that the government has allowed re-opening only for the final year candidates.

“Presently, term-end exams are under way for the fifth and seventh semester students. They will end around December 7. Only then will the new semester for the last year students begin,” said an official close to the development.

“We want the government to hold their decision on reopening by at least a fortnight by when the picture will become much clearer,” said Bhasker Patel, president of Gujarat Rajya Shala Sanchalak Mahamandal. Jatin Bharad, vice-president of Self-Financed School Management Association, said that it would be better if the government waited a little longer and delayed the re-opening of schools at least by 10 to 15 days.

According to the SOP guidelines issued earlier, schools were to take consent letter from the parents before allowing their wards to attend physical classroom studies.

At least 40% parents to whom different school authorities have reached out to in urban centres are reluctant in sending their children to schools, according to Bhasker Patel.

In a recent letter to chief minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday, the All Gujarat Vali Mandal has pressed for their demand to keep schools closed for at least two months more or till a Covid-19 vaccine is made available in the market. The association had also called for a state wide shutdown of schools on November 23.

A worker sanitizes a classroom at a school in Ghatlodia on Thursday