Assess if physical classes can be held for students of classes 10 and 12 in COVID-free villages: Maha CM

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday directed the state Education department to explore the possibility of restarting schools and colleges for students of classes 10 and 12 in the villages without COVID-19 cases.

Those villages and towns which have not reported fresh coronavirus cases for a long time and where there are no chances of finding new infections could be considered for reopening of schools and colleges. Students can start going to schools and colleges and attend classes like the pre-pandemic period, the state government said in a statement.

The CM also directed Education department officials to assess such villages and towns where schools and colleges can be allowed to resume, it said. Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad, state Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) in the CMO Ashishkumar Singh, ACS, School Education Department Vandana Krisha, CMO Principal Secretary Vikas Kharage and other officials of the school education department attended the meeting.

During the meeting, Gaikwad briefed the officials about the department’s ongoing exercise of compiling data of the students who lost both parents due to COVID-19. Database of such students will be used to frame a state-level policy of bearing their educational expenses.

The chief minister has asked Gaikwad to submit the proposal with an estimated requirement of the funds, the statement said. The CM also directed the department to study the formula being used by boards like CBSE for assigning marks to students of classes 10 and 12 whose exams stood cancelled due to the pandemic.