Return to Schools

Schools have reopened in several states across the nation barring few states like Kerala which will start schools from November 1. Andhra Pradesh with less covid load started schools from August 16. Option has been given to parents to send or not. Consent form signed by parents is mandatory for those students coming to school. Almost all teachers are vaccinated.  From march 25,2020 till date, schools for primary classes have remained closed. Only high school students attended school late last year for few months. Colleges have also started in many states. 

Most states are opening schools with just 50 percent capacity with alternate day schools. Others are starting schools in phased manner. Higher classes are runinng with full capacity. Residential schools have resumed their classes. Online classes are ongoing with offlines study. The National Institute of Disaster Management suggested that schools should be open in areas  of controleld covid. The lack of evidence of Delta&other variants affecting children has also impacted the government's decision to reopen schools. 

Even ICMR suggested to start primary schools first due to the low risk of them catching infections compared to higher classes students. Construction activity in government schools has been happening at increased pace across several states. Like in Andhra Pradesh, several states are investing in revamping public education. MP govt announced setting up of 9,200 “high-quality and well-equipped” public schools at a budgeted cost of around Rs 6,952 crore for Phase 1 of this program. 
Some states had opened schools in January this year but again closed in february.

There are many allied industries dependent on the school market, from book stores to tailors to auto/bus drivers. All of them have remained unemployed for past one year. School buses have not run for over a year now. Several exams have been cancelled as well. In residential schools, from hostel staff to canteen, all staff have remained without work for over 18 months now. These allied industries have reason to cheer now that schools are reopening.