Schools in Uttarakhand to reopen for classes 10, 12 from Nov 1

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After a prolonged closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, schools in Uttarakhand are set to reopen for classes 10 and 12 from November 1. The decision was taken by the state Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat in Dehradun on Wednesday, government's spokesperson and Cabinet Minister Madan Kaushik said.

The decision was taken on district magistrates' feedback after they consulted with district education officers and students’ parents, he said.

The schools, however, are being opened only for these two classes with strict instructions to schools to ensure compliance of the anti-COVID standard operating procedures of the Centre, including the mandatory wearing of face masks, social distancing and hand sanitising, besides other precautionary measures, Kaushik told reporters here.

The decision on when to resume the rest of classes will depend on how things pan out during the first month of the reopening of schools, he said.

Meanwhile, online classes will continue, he said.

While issuing the SOP for Unlock-5 the Centre had left it to the states to take a call on the schedule of reopening schools after proper assessment of the COVID situation within their territories.

Modifying its earlier decision to cut one day salary of all government functionaries and employees for a year because of the pandemic, the Cabinet exempted state government employees below the IAS and IPS-rank officers from the ambit of the decision.

However, ministers, MLAs, IAS and IPS officers will continue to contribute their one day salary towards the corona relief fund for a year as decided earlier.

The relief was being provided to the junior state government employees as a gift for the festival season, he said.

The Cabinet also decided to rename the Himalayan Garhwal University as AB Vajpayee Himalayan Garhwal University.

(With Inputs from PTI)