Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that Maharashtra schools to reopen after Diwali while taking all precautionary measures. The schools for classes 9 to 12 would reopen after a gap of 7 months from November 23, 2020. Teachers will have to undergo an RT-PCR test to detect Covid19 from November 17 to 22.
Chief Minister Thackeray said that precautions such as the sanitization of school premises and health checkups of teachers would be conducted in the state before reopening schools. He further stated that students who are ailing or have ailing members at home, should not be sent to schools by their parents in this period. The School Education Department would soon release the detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding the reopening of schools.
Also read: State to reopen schools with new SOPs; check list
School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said that only one child will be allowed to sit on a single bench and classes will be held on alternate days. Education Minister of the state also said that students would be asked to come to schools after eating meals at their homes and will have to bring their own water bottles. School hours will be reduced to four hours, wherein only science, math, and English subjects will be taught. For other subjects, online learning would continue. As for now, schools for other classes would start in due course of time in phases.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra SSC, HSC Board Exams 2021 would be conducted in May 2021. Gaikwad a few days ago in an interview said that Maharashtra Board exams 2021 are not possible before May due to the pandemic. The state government has already reduced the syllabus for SSC and HSC examinations by 25 percent to compensate for the time lost.
