Education: The Telangana government has announced the temporary closure of all educational institutions after several schools and hostels in the state emerged as COVID-19 hotspots. Likewise, the government in Uttar Pradesh has ordered the closure of all its schools.
After a lull of more than three months, COVID-19 cases are surging once again across the country with Maharashtra accounting for the maximum number of cases, followed by Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh
The Telangana Education Minister, Sabitha Indra Reddy, said that the decision to shut down schools was taken following the concerns expressed by parents. “Keeping in view such fears and requests from the parents, we have decided to close all the educational institutions in the state temporarily from Wednesday to curb the virus spread,” Reddy said. The decision would apply to all the schools, colleges, and hostels in the government and private sector, except for medical colleges.
In Uttar Pradesh, all schools and higher education institutions will remain closed from March 25th-31st. All examinations for grades 1 to 8 scheduled for this week will be postponed. Higher educational institutions that have examinations going on during this week-long closure, will remain open only for examinations. Students will write exams in the educational institutions and will be required to follow all COVID-19 protocols.
UP’s Basic Education Minister Satish Dwivedi said, “After March 31, depending upon the situation, we will decide whether to promote all students, or extend the academic session and hold examinations in state government-run institutions.”
Read this article on how rural India learned during lockdown.