Nagpur: The State Education Department on Wednesday issued an AR that allowed schools in rural areas to reopen in physical mode from July 15 if they meet very strict criteria such as all villages free one month.
Apart from this, a committee led by Sarpanch will also consider school applications to reopen based on other factors (see boxes).
For city students whose school campus is in rural areas, allowing entry on campus will be the wisdom of the Special Committee.
Speaking exclusively to TOI, Minister of School Education Varsha Gaikwad said, “We have formed a committee at the Panchayat Gram level which will be led by Sarpana.
The Committee will include government officials (see boxes) too and will consider many factors before making a decision to reopen.
“Gaikwad reaffirms that the main purpose allows schools to reopen is to ensure that they in remote villages are not abandoned from the academic ecosystem.
“There is an internet connectivity problem and access to the digital learning platform in the villages and it becomes a barrier to learning.
More and more students move away from school and learning, the more opportunities are they to break up.
We can’t let it happen and hence, every effort is done To make them stay connected with school, “said Gaikwad.
Although the state government initiated teaching projects through the public broadcast platform as well, students in outside places were still abandoned.
“In these small villages if there are no Covid-19 cases, then reopen can be done,” said Gaikwad, who is also a qualified teacher.
“Our efforts are bringing children in these villages back to school and learning in physical mode.
We urge the district collector to vaccinate the teacher based on priority so that they are in a better position to bring our ‘back to school’ mission , “said Gaikwad.
Emphasizing the need for security, Gaikwad said the standard operating procedure (SOP) was prepared with a lot of thought.
“Even things like transportation students have seen in detail.
We prefer parents to drop / pick children because it will help them avoid buses.
And if they use school buses, then strict instructions on sanitization have been given,” said Gaikwad , After the closing of the school when the Covid-19 pandemic hit last year, the Maharashtra government waited until November 23 to allow the reopening of the school.
When weeks passed, the number of attendance throughout the country skyrocketed with a daily presence touched almost 50 lakh.
Educational officers said it was impossible that any school would be reopened on July 15 itself as ‘many documents’ must be done.
Cannot let students in remote villages come down from Edu Ecosystem: Min
