The Rajasthan government today has announced the reopening of schools up to Class 5 in private and government schools in urban areas of the state from February 16. Students, however, will continue to have the option of online education. Students will only be allowed to come to campus for studies after the written consent of their parents. Schools up to Class 12 reopened on February 1.
Schools at all levels were shut down across Rajasthan in view of the COVID pandemic.
Schools in several states including Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh will resume offline classes after many months of closure from tomorrow, February 14.
The Central Government on February 2 has also issued modified guidelines for reopening of schools and asked states and Union Territories (UTs) to decide at their level whether schools require consent from parents to allow students in classrooms.
As per the new guidelines, it will be up to states and UTs if parents need to give such permission. However, the new guidelines have also asked parents to give their consent if states or UTs ask for it.
Further, the guidelines issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, suggested preparing bridge courses and implementing them in classrooms.
“Once school reopens, the grade related syllabus should be undertaken only after the bridge course is completed, so that students can adjust to the changed school environment and do not feel the stress or left out, especially students who did not have access to alternate means of education,” it said.
In the modified guidelines, the government has also suggested identification of children based on their learning levels so that teachers can focus on students who need additional support.
