Consent of parents not required for class 10, 12 pupils to attend school

New Delhi: Students of classes 10 and 12 will no longer need to bring consent letters signed by their parents to attend offline classes in schools of Delhi, as per the Directorate of Education (DoE).

For the first time in two years, schools in the national capital will open completely in offline mode for all classes from April 1, with the city's disaster management authority last week giving its nod to end the hybrid mode of operation.

"All schools may conduct offline classes for students of grade 10 and 12. Consent of parents for attending offline classes is not mandatory. Schools may also deploy transportation facilities for the convenience of students and parents with COVID-appropriate behaviour being followed," the DoE said in a letter to schools.

Schools in the national capital were closed in March 2020 ahead of a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

While schools reopened in phases whenever the COVID-19 situation permitted, they have been operating in hybrid mode and students were allowed to attend offline classes only with their parents' consent.

According to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) order issued on Saturday, the blended and hybrid mode (online and offline) of learning and consent from parents will only be followed for students up to class 9 and those in class 11 till March 31.

Meanwhile, Delhi on Tuesday reported 344 fresh COVID-19 cases and four deaths, while the positivity rate stood at 0.80 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.

The national Capital's case count has now increased to 18,60,236. The death toll stands at 26,126, the latest health bulletin stated.

The number of COVID-19 tests conducted a day ago stood at 42,947, it said.

The total number of home isolation cases has dipped to 1,769. The number of containment zones, which were also slowly falling during this period, registered a dip in its count to 4,581 on March 1.

The surge in Covid cases in Delhi during the third

wave of the pandemic was largely due to the Omicron variant of the virus which is highly transmissible.

There are 11,028 beds for Covid patients in Delhi hospitals and 160 (1.45 per cent) of them were occupied. A total of 105 Covid patients were in hospitals.

Moreover, following the directions of the Delhi High Court, all city District Courts have been directed to keep open their videoconferencing link during the court sitting hours. The directions have been issued vide circular dated February 28, 2022 by Girish Kathpalia, Principal District and Sessions Judge (HQs) in order to ensure smooth and hassle-free functioning of the courts through virtual mode.