Schools’ reopening decision tomorrow by Pune collector – Times of India

Pune district collector Rajesh Deshmukh has said that a decision for Pune will be taken on Saturday after the weekly review meeting on the Covid-19 situation.

The state government has allowed the reopening of schools from pre-primary classes up to Std XII, but left the decision to local authorities who have to decide based on the local situation.
“The line of action regarding reopening for school in Pune will be decided post the review meeting on Saturday after discussing it with all stakeholders,” said Deshmukh.

Pune’s mayor Murlidhar Mohol in a video message said that they are in a dilemma whether to reopen schools or not considering the rise in Covid-19 cases in the city.

“In the last 8-10 days, we have seen an increase in cases. In the earlier waves, children had no or very mild symptoms. But this time, there are reports of fever and other symptoms. In the last one month, 3,500 children have been reported to have contracted the virus of which 100 required hospitalization. Even today, 64 are under treatment in the hospitals,” said Mohol.

He added, “Rising number of cases is a cause of worry. All this needs to be taken into consideration. Hence we have decided to take meetings with all stakeholders such as parents, doctors, teachers etc. On Saturday, we will discuss with the guardian minister and then a decision will be taken regarding school reopening,”

Meanwhile, most school officials said that they would keep the teaching-learning process open in a hybrid mode and leave it up to the parents whether they want to send their wards for offline classes or opt for online classes, if it is decided to reopen the schools. The move, said teachers, would be especially beneficial for students in Std X and XII who are preparing for the upcoming board examinations in February-March.

Jayashree Venkatraman, principal of SNBP International, said, “We will await the local body’s decision, but we are very happy about the state’s decision to reopen the schools and we are fully prepared to do so. However, we will not force any child to come to school. We will be adopting a hybrid mode of education so that students who do not want to come to school or are unwell can stay at home and attend the classes.”

Medha Sinnarkar, principal at Laxmanrao Apte Prashala said that with the rising number of Covid-19 cases, there is a chance that the local authorities will not allow primary classes to reopen and may start only in phase wise manner.

“If they decide to reopen, then I think they should allow Std X and XII as the first priority. Then, depending upon the situation, they can extend it to Std IX and XI and so on. Since the students who are appearing for board exams would need to have their doubts cleared and come to school for other things, they can be allowed to report to school. However, there will be no compulsion,” Sinnarkar said.