Maharashtra city gears up to restart classroom teaching in schools after 18 months

With schools in Pune ready to welcome students for the first time in 18 months, the authorities said they have ensured that all Covid-19 safety protocols are in place and adhered to, reported news agency PTI.

Speaking about some of the guidelines issued by the Maharashtra government, Mahendra Ganpule, state spokesperson of the headmaster association, said that they will ensure students bring a written consent letter from their parents to attend offline classes. 

In addition to this, physical distancing, mandatory mask usage, vaccination of teachers, thermal and oximeter screening of students, and ensuring cleanliness and hand hygiene among students would be of utmost priority for the authorities. 

"There will be three-clock hours working in the school. The students will come to the school after taking meals at home. Almost all teachers have been fully vaccinated. There are 1600 schools in the Pune district and we expect over 90 to open on Monday," said Ganpule. 

Devyani Mungali, founder-director at Sanskriti Group of Schools, said they have made the student's attendance optional for classes 7 to 12 till the end of this year, adding that staff were being checked on a daily basis. 

"Students and staff will be immediately sent home if they exhibit any symptoms of the virus. We are also thinking to follow a procedure called classroom suspension. If one or more students or staff in a class is detected with Covid-19, that class will be suspended for 14 days. In such a scenario, classes will be held online," Mungali said. 

She said the response from PTA representatives and parents was encouraging and students would also understand the need to follow protocols in the current situation. 

Anagha Mande, principal of Ahilyadevi High School For Girls, said all preparations to welcome students by adhering to SOPs laid down by the state government have been completed. 

Vikas Garad, deputy director of the state council of educational research and Training, said a webinar was organized where education department officials and Covid-19 task force members sensitized principals, teachers and parent about the current situation.

Covid situation in state 

Maharashtra on Sunday reported 2,692 new coronavirus infections and 41 fatalities while 2,716 patients were discharged, the state health department said. 

The new cases pushed Maharashtra's Covid-19 tally to 65,59,349, the death toll to 1,39,207 and the number of recoveries to 63,80,670. The state is now left with 35,888 active cases. 

With 1,47,603 new tests, the number of samples examined in Maharashtra so far went up to 5,92,22,263. 

Mumbai city reported 573 Covid-19 cases and three deaths during the day, taking the tally of infections to 7,44,389 and the number of fatalities to 16,125, the department said. 

Mumbai division reported 1,053 more cases and four fatalities during the day which pushed the number of total cases in this region to 16,79,422 and the toll to 35,291. 

Nashik division reported 500 new cases including 424 in the Ahmednagar district. 

Pune division reported 809 cases, Kolhapur division 202, Aurangabad division 29, Latur division 73, Akola division 10, and Nagpur division 16. Akola and Nagpur divisions did not report any fresh Covid-19 death on Sunday.