Assam government will partially re-open schools for students from class IX to XII from Monday with 50% teachers even as the state was reporting 2,000 to 2,500 Covid-19 positive cases every day.
The state education department issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) on Sunday in which it was stated that students can take part in their classes only if parents had no objection and submitted a written undertaken to the school.
The classes will resume from 9 am to 12 noon for students of class IX and XII and between 1 pm and 4 pm for those in class X and XI. "For the students of class IX and XII, guidance and counselling session will be conducted on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for those in class X and XI, the SoP said.
All other classes, however, will remain suspended.
The official sources said the state decided to resume the classes as online classes were not being conducted regularly in the government schools. "Private schools are by and large conducting the online classes but the same is not going on the way they should be due to various constraints, including lack of smartphones or internet connectivity with the students or parents. So it has been decided to partially resume the classes with all possible Covid-19 safety measures in place," said an official.
The state education department had earlier extended the current academic year by two months, from January to March but things were going beyond control due to no let-up in Cpvid-19 positive cases.
The state had earlier made Covid-19 tests mandatory for all teachers.
A section of parents was, however, sceptical about the possible further spread of Coronavirus as the state's Covid-19 tally was still increasing.
According to health department statistics, the state reported 2,595 Covid-19 positive cases on Saturday increasing the total number of cases to 1, 55, 453. Of these, 31, 218 are still active cases while death toll touched 548. The state's rate of positivity was at 7.38% on Saturday. Most of the cases were reported from Kamrup Metro (Guwahati), Jorhat, Lakhimpur and Golaghat districts.
However, Assam's recovery rate stood at 80.80%.
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