BENGALURU: The Karnataka government on Monday announced that schools will reopen for students in Classes 1-5 from October 25. They will however begin with 50 percent capacity. This is for the first time since the onset of the pandemic that schools are reopening for primary students.
After a detailed meeting on Sunday involving members of the Technical Advisory Committee, the state government issued an order allowing schools to resume offline classes but has also made it mandatory to get the consent of parents.
The classes will be held following physical distancing measures and classrooms will be sanitised on a daily basis. The order says it will be mandatory that for all classes, teachers need to be fully vaccinated — i.e. they should have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, the online mode of schooling will continue for students who do not want to attend physical classes. Teachers who are above the age of 50 will have to use a face shield while teaching in class.
It may be noted that schools for classes 6-12 and pre-university colleges are open in the state. As the COVID-19 situation in the state has remained under control for the last two months with the positivity rate in almost all districts below 1%, the TAC members were of the opinion that reopening of classes will benefit children to have midday meals, in addition to education and social development.
Meanwhile, the state government has announced that midday meals for children in government schools will begin from November 1 and detailed guidelines related to COVID hygiene and norms have already been discussed with Education Officers across all districts.