Schools to be shut till at least Oct 5: Delhi govt

New Delhi: Delhi will maintain status quo till October 5 with respect to reopening private and government schools in the city. The decision to keep schools closed till the mentioned date was due to the rising number of Coronavirus cases, a senior official in the Education Department of the Delhi government said on Friday.

Under the Unlock 4 guidelines, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had given the states the option to reopen schools from September 21 if they wished to do so. Given the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the city, the Delhi government has decided against it.

"We discussed the reopening of the schools in the city and decided that it is not safe to do so now. We will review the matter closer to October 5 and decide accordingly if classroom activities can resume or it'll continue to remain shut," the senior official told Millennium Post.

"All government and private schools will remain closed for all students till October 5. However, online teaching and learning activities will continue as usual," the Directorate of Education (DoE), through the quoted order, notified officials.

"School principals are authorised to call staff as per requirement for smooth conduct of online classes or any other work," the order mentioned.

Earlier, the Education Department had decided to allow senior students (classes 9 to 12) to attend schools for teachers' guidance only if their parents consented.

Classrooms across universities and schools in the city have been closed since March when the Centre initiated the COVID-19 lockdown to curb the spread of the virus. Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand are some other states that have decided against resuming classes for the time being.