Educational institutions in Odisha resume physical classes

 All educational institutions resumed physical classes across Odisha on Monday, almost a month after remaining closed in wake of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All classes for students of Class 7 and above, colleges, ITIs, polytechnics, professional institutions and universities started functioning adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines. Hostels in colleges and universities reopened a day before on Sunday.

Odisha’s School and Mass Education Minister SR Dash said schools for the students of Class 1 to 6, will resume from February 14. Students of these classes have not attended schools for almost two years now due to the pandemic.

Earlier, Odisha Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra had announced that schools and colleges will open across the state from February 7 and February 14 following a decline in COVID-19 cases. This apart, the state felt that the impact of the third wave of the pandemic has less impact than the previous two waves, he said.

Though the classroom teaching started the state government has announced that students can opt for teaching through offline or online or hybrid modes.

The class timing for students of Class 8 to 12 in schools under the School and Mass Education Department is 10 am to 4 pm, while it is 9 am to 1 am for students of Class 1 to 7, an order issued by the government said.

Earlier, the Central government had suggested the states to go for reopening of schools in districts with a positivity rate of less than 5 per cent.

Meanwhile, Odisha on Monday logged 1,497 new infections taking the state’s COVID-19 tally to 12,68,308 while the daily positivity rate dropped to 3.18 per cent.