Maharashtra govt to reopen schools for more classes from 1 Dec: Details here 

Maharashtra government on Thursday announced that it has decided to reopen schools for all classes from 1 December. Breaking up the resumption of classes, Maharashtra Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said that the state cabinet has decided to reopen schools from standard 1-4 in rural areas and standard 1-7 in urban areas on the said date, according to news agency ANI.

The decision came after a high-level meeting with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, cabinet and paediatric task force, the minister further added. 

The Minister also stated,"In the next 6 days, the emphasis will be on acclimatising schools, parents and children towards a safe transition to physical classes as classrooms have been shut for nearly two years. We will be holding consultations with school mgt committees and parents."

"I will also hold deliberations with the paediatric task force on the need to update the SOPs for re-opening for the sake of the much younger children, some of whom may be attending physical classes for the first time. Their well-being, health has always been our topmost priority," she added.

In October, the Maharashtra government had decided to resume physical classes in schools for some classes. Gaikwad had announced that in rural areas, classes will resume for the students of 5 to 12 and in urban areas, for 8 to 12. 

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday said that the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic is expected in December but it will be mild in impact.

Speaking to a news channel, he had said medical oxygen and ICU beds will not be required during the third wave period.

About the current COVID-19 scenario, Tope said as 80 per cent of citizens are vaccinated in Maharashtra, the infection level and the mortality rate is less at present.

Maharashtra had recorded 766 COVID-19 infections and 19 fatalities in the 24 hours preceding Tuesday even as the active cases in the state remained below 10,000 for the third consecutive day, the health department had said on Tuesday.

Maharashtra's tally of COVID-19 cases stood at 66,31,297 as of Tuesday.