Gujarat schools for Class 6 to 8 to reopen from September 2

Gujarat Schools Reopening News: The Gujarat government has decided to reopen schools for classes 6 to 8 from September 2. Education Minister Bhupendra Singh Chudasama said that students of classes 6 to 8 can attend their offline classes from September 2, news agency ANI reported.

According to the guidelines, schools and colleges will have to follow strict COVID-19 guidelines and follow the standard operating principles including mandatory masks, social distancing, sanitization among others.

Following a huge dip in fresh COVID-19 cases in Gujarat, the state government last month allowed physical reopening of schools for students of Classes 9 to 11 with 50 per cent seating capacity. "All the SOPs announced in July for Classes 9 to 11 will also apply for Classes 6 to 8. All students, teachers and staff need to wear masks and maintain social distancing. School managements need to keep sanitisers and hand wash in their premises," Chudasama said.

In the beginning of July, the state government had allowed reopening of schools for Class 12, colleges and technical institutions in the wake of a significant drop in new coronavirus cases. On Tuesday, Gujarat recorded 14 fresh cases of coronavirus, which took its tally of infections to 8,25,330, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,079 as no fatality was reported during the day, as per official data.

- With PTI inputs

ALSO READ | Delhi schools may reopen soon after expert committee recommendations