BENGALURU: The State Government on Monday decided to reopen physical classes for students of sixth to eighth standards from September 6. The classes will be held half a day for five days a week in taluks that have a Covid positivity rate of less than 2 per cent. All schools will be allowed to reopen in Bengaluru, which has reported a positivity rate of 1 per cent.
“We are not looking at ward wise figures here,’’ said Revenue Minister R Ashoka after attending a Covid review meeting with CM Basavaraj Bommai and experts.
The attendance should be only 50 per cent in each class and students can attend classes on alternate days. “As classes are held only for five days a week, the remaining two days (Saturday and Sunday) will be used for cleaning and sanitising the school premises,” he said. This arrangement will continue for a month, after which the next course of action will be decided, taking into consideration the prevailing Covid situation.
Swab samples of 6,472 students collected: Ashoka
Classes for Standards 9-12 are being held six days a week. The response has been good at government schools and colleges, while it is yet to pick up at private institutions. He said that of 6,000 gram panchayats, 2,912 have zero positivity, hinting that they can reopen schools. He said that swab samples of 6,472 students from Classes 9-12 were collected, of which 14 students tested positive.
As this number is low, the government decided to reopen classes for sixth to eighth standards, he added. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have already resumed offline classes. “We are yet to take a decision on reopening schools for students of fifth standard and lower. We will take a decision later,” he added. The government had earlier issued directions that all parents, teachers and non-teaching staff should be vaccinated.