Delhi govt allows schools for classes 9-12, colleges to reopen from September 1

New Delhi: Amid much anticipation, the Delhi government on Friday announced that all public and private schools, universities and coaching centres will now be reopened for physical teaching-learning activities from September 1 onwards, starting with classes for students in Standards 9 through 12.

The announcement came after the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) met on Friday afternoon to discuss the recommendations of its expert panel on school reopening and agreed to start the phase-wise process next month.

While making the announcement, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said that schools will reopen in a graded manner. From September 1, public and private schools will reopen for children from classes IX-XII. Similarly, coaching centres for the same age group or higher along with colleges and universities will also be reopened, he said.

The decision to completely reopen schools will only be made after analysing school operations in this first phase.

"Experts agree that online education cannot replace education that is attained in a classroom with a conducive environment. Hence, Delhi government has taken the decision of reopening all schools, colleges, coaching activities in a slow, safe and secure manner," Sisodia, who is also the Education Minister, said.

Significantly, the DDMA has decided that it will not be made mandatory for students to attend physical classes at schools, institutes or colleges and only those who wish to attend and have permission from the parents or guardians will be allowed to attend classes physically.

"All the government schools will be issued orders to operate using a blended approach using a mix of online and offline classes. All the classes will not become completely offline and students will also not be forced to attend school," a senior official from the education department said.

"In the last month, we have instituted several drives all over Delhi to vaccinate teachers and 98 per cent of Delhi government school teachers and all school staff have received their first dose and we are administering the second dose as well. Private Schools have also reported that a high number of staffers have been vaccinated," Sisodia added.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a tweet said that, amid the decreasing cases of COVID-19, schools are being gradually reopened in Delhi with full precautions so that the loss of children's education can be reduced. "We also have to bring life back on track and take care of both the health and education of the children," he wrote.

An official present in the DDMA meeting told Millennium Post that most officials voted for the reopening of schools but some shared concerns over the expected third wave in October which health experts have warned of as an imminent threat.

"If cases start rising, educational institutes will be shut down immediately as we cannot risk children. However, as the positivity rate is at an all-time low of 0.1 percent, most officials present in the meeting agreed to allow the reopening," the senior official said.

All colleges, schools and institutes will be allowed to reopen for physical classes but will need to strictly follow all COVID-19 appropriate protocols and maintain social distancing for which a detailed SOP will soon be issued by the Delhi government.