With the continuous rise in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad has said that schools will not reopen in Maharashtra before Diwali. Maharashtra has reported 15,17,434 COVID-19 cases and 40,040 deaths due to the disease until today.
Why schools will not reopen in Maharashtra before Diwali
The minister’s statement came as the national rules changed. The Ministry of Home Affairs order of 30 September 2020, No. 40-3/2020-DM-I (A), allowed state and union territory governments to decide on reopening schools and coaching institutions after 15 October in a graded manner, in consultation with school managements and based on their own assessment of the situation, the Ministry of Education later told the Lok Sabha in a written answer by Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on 8 February 2021. The decision on whether schools would reopen in Maharashtra before Diwali therefore rested with the state government.
The Centre, on March 16, announced the closure of all educational institutions, including schools, colleges, and universities, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It has now allowed the graded reopening of schools from October 15.
What the Centre’s guidelines asked of schools
The Department of School Education and Literacy followed the home ministry order on 5 October 2020 with detailed guidelines on health and safety precautions for reopening schools, according to the same Lok Sabha answer. The first part dealt with health and safety and was meant to be adapted to local conditions; the second dealt with learning under physical distancing, including curriculum, instructional load, timetables and assessment. “It is for the concerned State and UT Government to decide about the re-opening of schools after COVID pandemic,” the answer said.
The guidelines allowed flexibility in attendance and said there should be no assessment for up to three weeks after schools reopened, so that pupils could make a smooth transition from home-based schooling, The Tribune reported on 5 October 2020. States and union territories were to draw up their own health and safety procedures on the basis of the ministry’s document, and schools were to clean and disinfect classrooms, kitchens, washrooms and water tanks and keep indoor air moving.
Ms Gaikwad, who recently recovered from COVID-19 herself, said schools have been conducting virtual classes, and teachers have been taking special classes for students in some areas. However, the challenge is to find a solution to end the academic year and assess students, she said. “While we are exploring various options, it is clear that schools will not open before Diwali,” Ms Gaikwad said.
According to senior officials in the State education department, reopening schools under the ongoing conditions is out of the question, as there is no sign of the pandemic leaving us anytime soon. State Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant also said that his department does not intend to reopen colleges until the COVID-19 situation is under better control.
“The situation is grim for students who wish to pursue higher studies abroad, as their future depends on our decision,” he added. Even as the State Government and bureaucracy mull over solutions, children and parents are worried as they seem to be in a dilemma. “I have taken an education loan and my parents are repaying it. If I don’t get good grades in exams, how will I get a good job?” said Raviraj Humble, an engineering student from Pune. There must be some technical solution for conducting exams and tests, he said.
Meanwhile, education expert Kishore Darak suggested that the State Government can combine two or three academic years to address the issues faced by parents concerning curriculum-based losses. While the safety of students is of utmost importance, it is high time that the State steps up and devises a bipartisan approach towards education, he stated.
“The government must come up with a solution where local officials are authorised to take context-specific decisions like full or partial reopening of schools or alternate day scheduling of classes, among others,” he said.
Since then: a reopening in stages
The state set a date within weeks. On 7 November 2020, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that schools could reopen for classes 9 to 12 from 23 November, Scroll.in reported, citing the Press Trust of India. Gaikwad said classes would be held on alternate days, with science, mathematics and English taught in school and other subjects online, and all teachers were to take RT-PCR tests between 17 and 22 November. Students were to be screened at the gate and seated one to a bench.
Mumbai did not follow. On 20 November, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation kept the city’s schools closed until 31 December as cases rose again, the Deccan Herald reported; “To prevent further spread of the infection, we have decided to keep schools closed till December 31,” Mayor Kishori Pednekar said. The same day, Gaikwad said that municipal commissioners and district collectors would decide on reopening in their areas, the Press Trust of India reported.
In January 2021 the state allowed classes 5 to 8 to resume from 27 January, while the corporation said schools under its jurisdiction would stay shut until further notice, the Free Press Journal reported. By 4 February 2021, the education ministry’s annexure to its Lok Sabha answer listed Maharashtra as having reopened schools for classes 9 to 12.
Since then: back in classrooms in October 2021
A wider reopening came almost a year after Gaikwad’s warning that schools would not reopen in Maharashtra before Diwali. On 24 September 2021 she announced that from 4 October schools would reopen for classes 5 to 12 in rural areas and classes 8 to 12 in urban areas, after the government consulted health officials and its COVID-19 task force, Business Standard reported, carrying a Press Trust of India report. Attendance was optional and parental consent was required. Until then, physical classes had been allowed only in areas with relatively few cases, and schools in Mumbai and Pune had stayed shut.
Schools across the state duly reopened for physical classes on 4 October 2021, after about 18 months, the Deccan Herald reported. “We have reopened the schools. Let’s carry it forward with confidence that we will not allow it to shut again,” Thackeray said.
