BENGALURU : The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has stuck to its guns on reopening offline classes for class 10 and 12 students from January 1, taking a stand that postponing reopening further would be a knee-jerk reaction in the wake of the new variant of SARS-CoV-2.
At its meeting on Tuesday, the committee deliberated on whether or not regular classes should resume for Grades 10 and 12. It decided that for now it is alright to reopen offline classes, and that another decision cannot be made in a week.
Jayadeva Hospital director Dr CN Manjunath and part of TAC, told The New Indian Express the situation (after schools reopen) can be monitored and reviewed in three weeks' time. He said: "The situation is dynamic, and at present the number of cases in Karnataka and in India, except for Kerala and Maharashtra, are on a downward trend."
He said the decision for Vidyagama students of Class 6-9 will be made by the education department. The TAC had in its previous meeting a week ago had recommended in a report that schools reopen on January 1. Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar said that the TAC had given the nod days ago, and arrangements are being made for the reopening of schools for class 10 and 12.
With just over a week to go for the reopening of schools, TAC experts believe it is too soon to react to the new strain of the virus. The TAC took a month to come out with its recommendation after the education department announced in November that schools would remain closed for the whole of December.