All schools in Mumbai will resume normal operations, going back to pre-Covid timings and 100 per cent offline learning at full capacity, from March 2. While online classes will stop completely, recesses, extracurricular activities and even school buses will be allowed, according to to a notification issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) education department late on Friday evening.
The new guidelines will be applicable to all schools, irrespective of the board they are affiliated to and all classes – pre-primary to Class XII, according to the new guidelines. Even schools catering to children with special needs will be required to follow the new guidelines.
The decision was taken considering the current Covid situation in the city where infection cases are dropping rapidly.
Following a meeting in the regard on Friday, Aaditya Thackeray, Tourism and Environment Minister of Maharashtra and Guardian Minister of Mumbai Suburban, tweeted: “This afternoon, I held a meeting for schools in Mumbai to resume from March, with pre-Covid timings, attendance, curricular & extra-curricular activities, school buses, apart from certain essential covid appropriate norms, as cases steadily decline in Mumbai.”
Soon after, the BMC education department issued the guidelines.
“As schools are resuming to conventional functioning; all students will have to join offline. Only children suffering from comorbidities or chronic diseases certified by medical professionals will have the facility of parents’ consent for offline attendance,” the guidelines said. Children should also be encouraged to participate in sports, outdoor games as well as other extracurricular activities, the BMC said. While it will be compulsory for the students to wear a face mask in classrooms, school buses and the school premises in general, it will not be mandatory during sports activities, Physical Education periods or outdoor games, the guidelines stated.
As explained in the guidelines signed by BMC Education officers – Rajesh Kankal for primary and Raju Tadvi for secondary – all teaching and non-teaching staff should be fully vaccinated whereas vaccination of students from the eligible age groups should be encouraged at school levels, with consent from parents. The civic body said it wished to hold vaccination drives in association with schools.
As schools go back to regular timings, recess too will restart and students will be allowed to eat in classrooms, according to the guidelines. Children will be allowed to travel through private as well as BEST buses for schools. Parents are advised to be cautious and not send their wards to schools if they are showing any Covid-related symptoms such as cold, cough or fever, the guidelines added.
With number of Covid cases on the decline for some time now, there has been a growing demand from parents and school bodies to resume schools in full capacity, just like pre-Covid times. The BMC Education department had prepared a plan in the regard, which was pending for approval.
After being closed for offline operation for over a year, the school in the city had started reopening from October 2021 in phases – starting from higher classes (Class VIII to XII). However, several restrictions were put in place including limited timings, no break to eat in school, no extra-curricular activities and classes being conducted in batches to ensure physical distancing. In December, the remaining classes (Classes I to VII) too were reopened for offline operation. But schools had to shut physical operations again, following rising cases of Omron, After a short break, the school resumed offline operation for all classes, including pre-primary sections, on January 24. However, Covid restrictions continued.
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