The Maharashtra government on Tuesday said it has decided to reopen schools for class 5 to class 8 students in rural areas and class 8 to class 12 students in urban areas August 17 onward.
The district and local authorities will take a final call after reviewing the Covid-19 situation.
Earlier this week, an official said that parents of students from several Maharashtra districts have been demanding reopening of primary schools and those from Classes 5 to 8. The official had said that the state education department was keen on "voluntary permission" for reopening of schools rather than a "directive or order".
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray attended a meeting of the Covid task force on Monday evening, and discussed the possibility of granting more relaxations in restrictions while observing precautions. They also deliberated on tackling the possible third wave of the pandemic, requirement of medical oxygen and increasing the pace of vaccination.
Besides Thackeray, state Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte, COVID-19 task force head Dr Sanjay Oak and other members were present in the meet.
The state government had excluded malls, cinema halls, theatres, religious places and religious gatherings from the purview of relaxations introduced last week.
The government had allowed shops to function till 8 pm in 25 districts, while excluding 11 districts where level-3 restrictions continue to remain in force due to a higher COVID-19 positivity rate.
Restaurant owners, malls and other establishments have been demanding that the government extend the current timings.
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