Re-opening of schools in rural areas deferred till Dec 13
   Date :26-Nov-2020

Ravindra thakre_1 &n
 
 
Staff Reporter :
 
106 samples of teaching staff test positive for COVID-19
 
 
Due to reservations expressed by several parents and the request made by Zilla Parishad (ZP) office-bearers, the district administration has decided to keep the schools in rural areas of district closed till December 13. Already, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has decided to keep the schools in Nagpur city closed till December 13. Ravindra Thakare, District Collector, told the reporters on Wednesday evening that State Government had allowed re-opening of schools for conducting classes for Std IX to XII from November 23. Accordingly, the district and ZP administration had started sanitising the school premises.
 
 
The district administration had decided to re-open the schools in rural areas of Nagpur district (excluding Nagpur city) from November 26 (Thursday). As far as RTPCR tests of teaching staff are concerned, of a total 4,886 samples, 106 tested positive for COVID-19. However, a day ahead of the scheduled re-opening, Thakare said that the decision was rolled back. “Now, the schools in rural areas of Nagpur district will remain closed till December 13. We will keep assessing the situation and will communicate next decision before that date,” he said. While starting classes in schools, it was necessary to obtain prior consent of parents of the students concerned. However, said the District Collector, the response from the parents was not to the desired extent. A majority of them have urged the administration not to re-open schools against the backdrop of COVID-19 cases.
 
Bharati Patil, Chairperson of Education Committee of ZP, also has urged the district administration to defer school re-opening. Against this backdrop, the district administration has decided to keep the schools in rural areas of district closed till December 13. Thakare said, “We will hold meeting of all stake-holders concerned and then only decide to go ahead with re-opening the schools. Till then, we are conducting sanitisation of all the schools in the district and are seeking reports from schools,” he said. Though the schools will re-open for students at a later date, attendance of teachers in schools is mandatory, he added. Yogesh Kumbhejkar, Chief Executive Officer, ZP; Pravin Takey, Shailaja Wagh, Anil Gadekar of Information and Public Relations Department, were present during interaction.