Schools reopened for students' future, AP CM Jagan says while allaying Covid-19 fears

Even as the fears of a Covid-19 third wave loom large, schools across Andhra Pradesh reopened on Monday, resuming classes in physical mode for the students of all the standards.

The educational institutions were closed in April as the second wave cases spread alarmingly in the state.

Andhra Pradesh has been lately reporting over 1,500 new cases daily. However, the number of cases reported on Monday, the day schools reopened, was only 909 as the number of samples examined dropped to about 47 thousand from around 70 thousand tests conducted on the days before.

While a section of the parents are concerned about the virus threat, chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy stated that the reopening decision was taken keeping the students future in view and sought to allay their fears.

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“Even ICMR, WHO-like organisations suggested that schools should be reopened considering the students' future. All the teachers have been vaccinated and only schools located in areas with below 10 per cent positivity rate will be functional that too strictly following Covid-19 protocols. School managements are instructed to limit only 20 students in each room and if the section strength is above 20, then the classes would be taken on alternate days,” Reddy said addressing the students and parents at P Gannavaram.

Schools renovated, free education kits distributed

Reddy launched the second phase of Jagananna Vidya Kanuka and the first phase of Mana Badi Nadu-Nedu (Our School – Then & Now) in the East Godavari district village on Monday.

Officials said that Rs 731 crore is spent this academic year under JVK to provide education kits to 47.32 lakh students of government and aided schools. These free kits consist of three pairs of uniform cloth, bilingual textbooks, workbooks, notebooks, stationary and shoes. This year, an Oxford dictionary has been included and students till class 5 will be receiving a pictorial dictionary.

The event also marked the inauguration of 15,715 government schools modernized with Rs 3,669 crore under the first installment of Nadu-Nedu.

Works are initiated under the second phase to renovate 16,368 schools at a cost of Rs 4,535 crore. The CM said that his government had taken up the project to modernize over 56,000 schools in total at an overall expenditure of about Rs 16,000 crore.

Under Nadu-Nedu, ten changes were effected like new furniture, drinking water with Ph balance reading, clean toilets, colorful paints, compound walls, green boards, fans, tube-lights, English labs and Kitchen sheds for preparing midday meals for the students.

Reddy claimed that in his two years of governance, the overall admissions in schools across Andhra Pradesh went to 73.05 lakh students from earlier 70.43 lakh.

“Enrollments in government schools increased to 43.43 lakh, from 37.20 lakh in 2018-19. For Ammavodi, Vidya Deevena, Vasati Deevena, Gorumuddha, Vidya Kanuka, Manabadi Nadu- Nedu, and Sampoorna Poshana schemes, our government has spent Rs 32,714 crore in the last two years,” Reddy said.