The Sikkim government has ordered that all schools in the flood-ravaged state offer online classes to students in Classes IX and above.

An official from the State Education Department said that the instruction for online lessons was given to compensate for the loss of class hours due to the closure of educational institutions until October 15 due to the flash floods, PTI reports.

In a circular shared on Monday, October 9, the Education Department said, “As you are aware, the week-long closure of schools has resulted in significant academic loss and therefore keeping in mind the interest of the students and to mitigate/compensate the impact of this closure all private and government secondary and senior secondary schools in the state are advised to conduct online classes for students of Classes IX, X, XI & XII respectively whenever possible during this closure period."

The Sikkim government first closed schools for four days following the October 4 flash flood, which caused widespread devastation in the alpine state.

The shutdown was eventually extended to October 15, affecting all government and private schools, colleges, universities, and other educational institutions.

At least 70 people have died in the calamity, while another 80 are still missing.

According to the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority, the total number of people affected is 87,300