TN School Reopening: Schools have been closed in Tamil Nadu for over 7 months (Representational)
The Tamil Nadu government has put on hold its decision to reopen schools from November 16 for classes 9 and above, nearly two weeks after it announced the reopening for classes 9 to 12 with coronavirus safety norms.
Like in most parts of the country, schools have been closed in Tamil Nadu for over seven months since the beginning of the pandemic.
Colleges and universities will start from December 2 only for research scholars and final year postgraduate students of science and technology streams, the government said. They too were scheduled to reopen on November 16.
The government said the opinion on reopening of schools was divided after state-wide consultations with parents and teachers on Monday. Parents of some schools wanted the institutions to reopen, but others were against such a move because of the Covid crisis, the government said.
Tamil Nadu, which has over 7.5 lakh coronavirus cases, including 11,415 deaths, is the state with the fourth-highest caseload in India.
The state on Wednesday reported 2,184 new COVID-19 cases and 28 deaths.
Tamil Nadu opposition leader, MK Stalin of the DMK, had hit out at Chief Minister E Palaniswami for his "hasty" announcement saying that a decision on reopening schools should be taken only in January 2021 after analysing the situation at that time.
Schools across the country had been shut since March, when the centre announced the first leg of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown. The central government, the highest executive authority in matters related to the pandemic, recently allowed the reopening of schools with strict safety protocols under its "Unlock5" guidelines.
(With inputs from PTI)