Reopening Of Schools In Andhra Pradesh Postponed To November 2

AMARAVATI: The Andhra Pradesh government has postponed its earlier decision of re-opening schools across the state from October 5. Addressing a video-conference review meeting with all district collectors on Tuesday, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy reportedly took the decision to postpone the reopening of schools till November 2.

The chief minister decided on the deferment keeping in view the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation in the state and the concerns being expressed by a few sections parents in this regard. Earlier, it was decided that all the schools will re-open from October 5, after a long layoff of close to six months. Even though the education department is fully geared up for this crucial exercise in all aspects, there were strains of hesitation among a few sections of parents who are worried about the safety and well-being of their children.

Considering all these concerns, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday took the decision to postpone the re-opening of the schools till November 2. However, the state government will push ahead with its original plan of distributing kits to students under ‘Jagananna Vidya Kanuka’ on October 5. The kits, each one of which includes three pairs of uniforms, textbooks, notebooks, a pair of shoes, two pairs of socks, belts and a school bag to each student of class 1st to 10th in government schools.

YS Jagan himself is likely to launch the scheme by participating in a distribution event at one of the government schools on October 5.

In the run-up for the reopening of schools from October 5, the state government and the education department has put in place all arrangements. Several thousands of schools were also renovated and developed with all facilities under the ‘Nadu-Nedu’ scheme over the last few months. In fact, the education department has already issued the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to all the schools on how to run the government schools while adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines.

But at the same time, there were divergent opinions on whether or not the time is conducive for the reopening of the schools. A few experts of education sector besides education department officials have also joined the parents, expressing their reservations based on the prevailing COVID-19 conditions.

Meanwhile, the percentage of COVID-19 positive cases is gradually coming down in Andhra Pradesh even while the number of tests being conducted is on the rise. This was stated by the chief minister during Tuesday’s review meeting with the district collectors.