GUWAHATI: All educational institutions in Assam will reopen in a phased manner from next month with physical classes in colleges, universities and technical institutions as well as for class 9 students to resume from October 1.
Offline classes for students of classes 1 to 8 will begin from October 19, an education department notification said on Tuesday.
Physical classes for final year students of higher secondary, degree and post-graduation courses as well as technical courses have resumed from September 6, while those of class 10 commenced from September 20.
All classes have to be conducted as per COVID-19 protocols and attendance in the educational institutions is not compulsory, the notification said.
Parents or guardians are required to give their written consent for their wards to attend offline classes, it said.
The institutions will also have to ensure the continuation with online classes, it added.
However, educational institutions in containment zones will not reopen until further orders, it said.
The decision to reopen the educational institutions has been taken given the improving COVID-19 situation, the notification said.
However, the deputy commissioner of a district reserves the right to close them if the COVID positivity rate in that district breaches 2 per cent on a particular day.
The deputy commissioner, in his capacity as the chairman of the district disaster management authority, will order the closure of the educational institutions after consulting the managing director of the National Health Mission, the notification said.
For students from classes 1 to 8, classes will be held three days a week on alternate days.
There cannot be more than 30 students in a section and hostels will not be reopened for students of these classes.
Classes for students from classes 9 to 12 will be conducted on a day-to-day basis.
Hostels will be available only for students of classes 10 and 12.
Similarly, classes in all colleges, universities, technical institutions, will also resume on a day-to-day basis, and boarding facilities will be available only for the final year students.
In case of detection of any COVID-19 positive case in a school, the local government authority has to be informed and classes have to resume the following day itself after testing all students and staff for the infection.
If multiple COVID-19 cases are detected, the educational institutions will be closed for seven days, as per the notification.
At least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine is compulsory for all teaching and non-teaching staff, while both doses are mandatory for boarders and the staff of hostels and residential schools, barring students of final years under the age of 18 years, it added.
Educational institutions in the state had closed from the later part of April this year due to the outbreak of the second COVID-19 wave.