COVID-19: Schools in Pune reopen; online classes to continue parallelly

Pune: After being closed for about a year-and-a-half, schools in Maharashtra’s Pune district reopened for physical classes on Monday. Students were seen excited while entering their schools and authorities welcomed them back, as physical sessions resumed for Classes 8 to 12 in the city and for Classes 5 to 12 in rural areas of the district. Last month, Maharashtra’s school education minister Varsha Gaikwad had announced that physical classes will resume in schools across the state on 4 October. As per the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the state government for the reopening of schools, it is not mandatory for students to attend physical classes. If they want to attend, they will have to submit consent letters from their parents. Anagha Mande, principal of the city-based Ahilyadevi High School For Girls, “We made special arrangements to welcome students on the campus. Masks and sanitisers were distributed to students on their arrival.” A person dressed as a clown was seen welcoming students at the Rajiv Gandhi Academy of E-Learning School & Science Junior College, and teachers greeted the students with flowers. At many places, instead of the school transport, parents came to drop the students outside the educational institutions. “Even though the offline classes have resumed, we made the online session of the same available for students who are joining classes from home,” said a principal of another school while welcoming students back on the campus. Maharashtra Headmaster Association state spokesperson Mahendra Ganpule told PTI that schools in Pune city and rural areas of the district were following all SOPs laid down by the state government for the resumption of physical classes.