Odisha Schools reopen on Oct 21st

Bureau,Odishabarta

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Government on Friday announced resumption of physical classes for students of 11th and 8th standards after Durga Puja vacation as the State is witnessing a declining trend in COVID-19 cases, a notification of the School and Mass Education department said.
Physical classes for standard 11 will begin on October 21 and for standard 8 on October 25 as the State is witnessing a declining trend in COVID-19 cases, it said.

Classroom teaching for students of standards 9 and 12 has already resumed in the State with strict adherence to health safety guidelines. No cooked mid-day meal will be served to the students of standard 8 and dry ration will be given to them instead, the notification said. Hostels for students of standards 11 and 8 will also be reopened along with the date of reopening of schools following the COVID-19 protocol and social distancing norms.

“The COVID-19 situation has been improving in the State. We will resume classroom teaching for students of classes 11 and 8 from October 21 and October 25 respectively,” School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said. He, however, said no decision has been taken for reopening of schools for students from classes 1 to class 7.

“A meeting will be held on October 16 with all district education officers of the State in this regard and instructions will be issued to initiate preparations for the commencement of classes for standard 8 and 11 students,” he said.

Schools are closed from October 9 for Durga Puja and Kumar Purnima and will reopen on October 21.

The notification said the Government has allowed the reopening of those run by the State or are Government-aided or privately managed Odia and English medium schools for standards 8 and 11 for the academic year 2021-22 under the strategy of graded opening of schools. The physical classes for standard 11 will be held from 10 am am to 1.30 pm daily and that for standard 8 from 9 am.

The notification said the orders and guidelines issued by the Health and Family Welfare department and the Special Relief Commissioner should be followed strictly. The decision of the Collector and District Magistrates for reopening schools while taking into account the local conditions will be final. Both online and offline classes will, however, continue and the students can attend the offline classes in consultation with their parents or guardians, the notification said. The educational institutions under the administrative control of ST & SC development, Minorities and Backward Classes Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities may also commence classes from the above dates following the prescribed SOP of the School and Mass Education department, it said.

Parental consent is mandatory for students who wish to stay in the hostels, the notification said. The common area of the hostels, including the messes in them should be frequently sanitised and the earlier standard operating procedure issued by the department for management of hostels should be followed scrupulously, it said.

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