The decision to reopen schools, colleges comes at a time when the second wave of Covid-19, which paralyzed the state’s health infrastructure and caused thousands of deaths, is showing signs of abating.
Bihar education minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said on Sunday that educational institutions in the state would reopen after July 6 in a phased manner if the Covid-19 situation remained stable.
Education department officials said they were prepared for a phase-wise reopening of institutions by following Covid-19 safety protocols.
“In the first phase, universities and colleges will be allowed to function with 50% students along with other safety measures. In the next phase, senior secondary and secondary classes will be resumed followed by junior classes. We have designed bridge courses to compensate for the loss of learning among students,” said an official of the education department, who didn’t wish to be named.
The decision to reopen educational institutes comes at a time when the second wave of Covid-19, which paralyzed the state’s health infrastructure and caused thousands of deaths, is showing signs of abating with only 185 infections registered in the last 24 hours, as per the health department’s bulletin released on Sunday. The total number of active cases in the state has come down to 2,141 while the recovery rate has shot up to 98.38%.
All government and private educational institutions in the state have remained closed since April 5, when the second wave of Covid-19 forced the state government to announce a lockdown. Education institutions opened up briefly this year after the tapering of the first coronavirus wave, which had prompted the Centre to clamp a nationwide lockdown in March 2020. Most schools have since relied on online teaching, which has created difficulty for students, mostly for those who are on the wrong side of the digital divide.
Last month, the state government launched Tikashala or vaccination camps set up in various schools across the state to inoculate all teachers of government and private schools and their families.
Courtesy – Hindustan Times