Students of Classes I to XII were back to school for in-person sessions in Maharashtra from today, January 24, and the Government of Maharashtra hoped that students would make the most of the fact that they are back in their classrooms in a safe atmosphere.
It was only last week that the state government permitted the resumption of offline classes from January 24. This happened after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray green-lighted a proposal to this effect sent to him by the school education department, as per a report in PTI.
In the first week of this month, schools in Maharashtra were closed because of COVID cases and the highly infectious Omicron variant, but many activists, parents, teachers and others from the field of education were vehemently against this move citing the fact that it would affect the students.
It was announced that in Mumbai, schools for Classes I to IX will be closed till January 31. This announcement came from the local civic body. Later, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) assessment revealed that Omicron cases were actually not on the rise and that the curve was flattening. This is what induced the officials to propose that the schools can, in fact, be reopened. Thus, even in Mumbai, serval schools were back to physical classes. In fact, it was only last week that BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal had informed that even pre-primary schools will resume offline classes.
“Wishing all parents and students the very best as physical classes reopen today onwards. We hope you enjoy your day back in a safe atmosphere. #BackToSchool", tweeted Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad today morning.
Though schools have been allowed to go back to in-person classes, the Maharashtra government reemphasised the importance of adhering to all protocols and guidelines related to COVID-19.
On January 23, the state reported 40,805 COVID-19 cases and the total tally stood at 75,07,225. As many as 44 fatalities pushed the toll to 1,42,115, a health department official said earlier, as per a report in PTI. No new Omicron case was detected and the tally of those infected with the new variant remains 2,759 and 2,759 have been discharged, the official informed.
