The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Wednesday issued orders permitting schools to reopen, after a gap of 19 months, for students from nursery to Class XIII from November 1. Schools will function with a maximum capacity of 50% of students with classes continuing in a blended mode.
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The Government further said that no management can force the children to come to school without the approval of the parents and attending physical classes will be optional. The DDMA had earlier allowed the reopening of schools for Classes IX to XII, colleges, and coaching institutions from September 1 and had issued guidelines for following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said due to the closure of schools, student’s education has severely been affected. “Children will not be compelled to attend school without parental approval. All the academic activities will continue to run offline as well as online. Schools will call 50% of the children of its maximum capacity to the classes,” Mr. Sisodia said, announcing the DDMA order.
The standard operating procedure related to the reopening of these schools will soon be issued by the Government, he said.
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All schools have been asked to ensure that their teaching and non-teaching staff are fully vaccinated. Mr. Sisodia said that about 98% of the teachers in Delhi schools have received at least the first dose of the vaccine.
“If there is a sudden increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and the situation turns bad, schools will go back to the online mode of education,” the Minister added.
The DDMA had in a meeting on September 29 said that since the reopening of schools for Classes IX to XII, there had been no reported rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and the attendance was almost 80%. It had also said that it would take a call on reopening schools for other classes after the festive season.