NEW DELHI: After a gap of almost two years, all the schools in the national capital will be reopened for Nursery to Class VIII students from November 1.
The regular classes for standard IX to XII have already started.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has given permission to reopen other educational institutions in Delhi such as Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in a staggered manner.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, "All the schools and other educational institutes shall be allowed to be opened for all the classes in Delhi from November 1. However, schools shall also continue online classes for the students who are not willing to attend offline classes."
The decision to reopen schools was taken by a panel of experts and members of DDMA in a meeting on Wednesday.
"The Covid cases in Delhi are in control now. People need to worry about the disease and should strictly continue to follow the Covid protocols. The schools will be reopened with strict Covid protocols and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in place. Schools will call only 50% students for physical classes and no parents or students will be forced to attend physical classes," said Sisodia.
Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, said, "All the schools will make sure that the classes being held in "blended hybrid mode' with both online and offline classes. Students will attend schools with their parents' consent. Also, the schools will continue to conduct online classes for students not willing to attend physical classes."
The minister further said that all the schools should ensure that all of their teaching and non-teaching staff are fully vaccinated. "We have been informed in the DDMA meeting that 98% of teaching and non-teaching staff have been vaccinated with one dose. The second doses will also be administered soon," said Sisodia.
Sisodia further said that the cases are currently in control and the schools will be closed again if there will be a rise in the Covid cases.
Further, DDMA has also allowed conducting Chhath puja celebrations in several places across the city with a restricted number of people and strict Covid protocols in place.