Image Courtesy : www.facebook.com/AjitPawarSpeaks

The pandemic is not over yet. Even in several states, there are fears of its resurgence. Considering such a situation, the Covid 19 task force of the government of Maharashtra is suggesting that the schools should remain closed until Diwali. The task force has conveyed this message to the Chief Minister of the state, and then the Chief Minister attended a review meeting for the same.

As per the details available, the Maharashtra government had announced to resume the offline classes in the schools from 17 August. The State’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar stated that the decision to open the schools would definitely be taken after having a right consultation with the task force. Only after the green signal from the task force will we go ahead towards reopening the schools. However, till now, the task force is suggesting keeping the schools shut and not opening them before Diwali. However, the final decision is yet to be taken.

Earlier, the Maharashtra government decided to reopen the offline schools from 17 August in areas where the situation of COVID-19 is quite under control. Even the collector or the commissioner of the state is suggested heading the task force to monitor the safety operations in the schools. In the rural areas, the classes from 5th to 12th have the permission to start; however, in the urban areas, only the classes for eight students were permitted.

Along with all this, the government also released the notification regarding standard operating procedures where it becomes mandatory for all the staff members and teachers attending schools to get vaccinated.

Also, the approval of the parents is a must for all the students attending the classes.

Varsha Gaikwad, the Education Minister, Maharashtra State, informed the government that this decision had been taken on hold just because of the doubts raised by the COVID-19 special task force.

According to the task force, allowing students under the age of 18 and not vaccinated in a school can lead to a major issue. Also, it can pose a major health risk to others as well.

Since March 2020, all the schools in the state have remained closed, and most of the parents and educationists have demanded reopening the schools immediately while taking adequate precautions. Experts have actually warned that the children not attending schools have faced a lot of issues of education. Even as per the recent survey held by the State Council of education research and training, 81% of the parents in the state want the schools to reopen at the earliest.