Students of Class 10 and 12 across Gujarat headed to school on Monday after a hiatus of over nine months due to the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown.

School authorities welcomed students at the gates with thermal scanners and hand sanitisers, in line with the guidelines laid down by the state government. Masks and hand sanitisers have been made mandatory.

In Rajkot, classes have been divided into batches so that there are only 10 students in each classroom. This is to ensure social distancing.

"Children will come back to school after almost 10 months. We have divided students into batches with each class holding only 10 students. This is to follow COVID-19 protocol," said the academic director of a school.

In Ahmedabad, 10 to 15 teams have been set up to conduct inspection drives in schools to ensure the COVID protocol is followed.

"Schools have reopened throughout Gujarat and we are following government-mandated SoPs. Masks and sanitisation has been made compulsory for students of classes 10 and 12 who are attending. We have made 10-15 teams to conduct inspection drives in schools to check for upkeep of COVID protocol," Ahmedabad District Educational Officer RC Patel said.

As per the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there are currently 7,829 active COVID-19 cases in Gujarat.

As many as 2,39,771 recoveries and 4,344 deaths have been reported in the state so far.