Schools in Haryana will reopen for Classes 6 to 8 from the first week of February, state Education Minister Kanwar Pal said on Wednesday.

“The COVID cases are gradually coming down and the situation has improved. Moreover, the COVID-19 vaccination drive has also begun. So, we have decided to reopen schools for Classes 6 to 8 from February first week,” the minister told reporters in Chandigarh.

He said a decision on starting Classes 1 to 5 will be taken later.

The schools will have to follow all guidelines related to face masks, sanitisers and social distancing, he said.

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After remaining shut for six months due to the COVID-19 outbreak, schools in Haryana had partially reopened in mid-September for students of Classes 9 to 12.

However, amid a rise in COVID-19 cases, the Haryana government had ordered the closure of all schools in November.

Over 150 students from three Haryana districts — Rewari, Jind and Jhajjar — had tested positive for Coronavirus in November after which all the schools were shut till further orders.

In mid-December, the schools had again reopened for the higher classes.