AHMEDABAD: Private schools in Gujarat have decided to resume online classes from Monday after requests from parents, but will continue to oppose the state government order which directed them not to collect fees from students till they remain closed, a schools' federation spokesperson said.
Over 15,000 private institutions suspended online classes since Thursday after the Gujarat government's notification directed self-financed schools not to collect tuition fees from students as long as they remain shut in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The notification, issued on July 16, also asked these schools not to hike fees for the academic year 2020-21.
Managements of various private schools met on Saturday evening and decided to resume online classes from Monday after considering requests made by parents, Self-financed Schools Federation spokesperson Deepak Rajguru said.
He said the schools will continue to demand withdrawal of the state's notification regarding the tuition fees, and will not open their offices or communicate with the education department until they get justice.
Some private schools have already moved the Gujarat High Court challenging the notification.
Rajguru said nearly 16,000 schools had suspended online classes to protest the "inhuman and insensitive" decision of the state government.
"In these three days, many parents' organisations contacted us using social media, text messages and phone calls, saying they are willing to continue online education, as students get to learn very well," he said.
"Considering their demands, we met online on Saturday and decided to resume online teaching," he said.
Meanwhile, the state on Saturday reported the highest single-day spike of 1,081 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total count to 54,712 while 22 more patients died, including 11 in Surat, the state health department said.
The death toll in the state now stands at 2,305.
A total of 782 patients were discharged, raising the number of recovered cases in the state to 39,612, it said.
Surat continues to report the highest number of new cases in the state.
On Saturday, it added 276 more patients, taking the count to 11,969.
Ahmedabad added 180 new cases, taking the tally to 25,529.
With four more patients succumbing to the infection, the death toll rose to 1,572.
Surat has become second worst affected district in the state after Ahmedabad, the department said.
Among other districts, Vadodara reported two deaths, while Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Junagadh, Kutch and Rajkot reported one death each.
Elsewhere, Vadodara reported 94 new cases, followed by Rajkot (65), Bhavnagar (41), Junagadh (37), Banaskantha (34), Gandhinagar and Surendranagar 29 each, Bharuch, Dahod and Mehsana 25 each, Gir Somnath and Jamnagar 23 each, Patan 21, Kutch and Valsad 19 each, Panchmahal (18), Narmada (12), Kheda (11).
Anand, Mahisagar, Morbi and Sabarkantha reported 10 cases each.
With 13,944 samples being tested in the last 24 hours, the total count reached 6,20,662, which comes to 214.52 tests per day per million population, the department said.
Gujarat now figures 11th in terms of the number of cases reported during the day in the country.
Gujarat's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 54,712, new cases 1,081, deaths 2,305, discharged 39,612, active cases 12,795 and people tested so far 6,20,662.