Telangana schools, colleges to reopen on September 1; CM KCR ensures caution
HYDERABAD: All educational institutions will be reopened in Telangana from September 1 at one go. Students from KG to PG have to attend physical classes from the beginning of next month.
The decision to this effect was taken by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao in a meeting held at Pragathi Bhavan on Monday, a media statement issued by the CMO said. Education minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy and senior officials from the education department were present in the meeting.
In the meeting, it was decided to reopen all educational institutions in both private and government sectors from September 1 including Anganwadi centres.
The Chief Minister directed the ministers and the officials of panchayat raj and municipal administration departments to ensure cleaning and sanitisation of all educational institutions and hostels run by the state government across the state by August 30.
The decision was taken after considering the reports submitted by the health and education departments that the continuous closure of educational institutions was causing mental stress among students, especially schoolchildren, and could also affect their future. The health officials reported that the Coronavirus had come under control in the state.
The officials were asked to ensure all educational institutions duly followed all precautions to keep the spread of Coronavirus under control. All educational institutions have remained closed since March, 2020 due to Covid.
The Chief Minister stated that due to the closure of educational institutions following Covid pandemic, uncertainty prevailed over the future of the educational system leading to utter confusion among various sections including students, their parents and also teachers of private educational institutions. The meeting also discussed the steps being taken by other states for the reopening educational institutions.
The Chief Minister asked officials to ensure that all schools, colleges and hostels run by the government which have remained shut for such a long period were habitable. He reiterated that it was the responsibility of the sarpanches and municipal chairpersons of the respective villages and towns to keep the premises of schools and educational institutions clean.
Special care will be taken to clean the premises of government educational institutions with chemicals such as sodium chloride and bleaching powder. Besides cleaning water tanks, sanitisation of the entire school premises including classrooms should be taken up by the local bodies. The ZP chairpersons were directed to conduct field visits in their respective districts and inspect whether the government schools and other institutions were maintaining cleanliness.
The Chief Minister asked school headmasters and principals of government residential schools to take utmost care of students after reopening. If a student in a school is detected with fever or other symptoms, they must be immediately taken to the nearest PHC and get Covid tests conducted. If tested positive for Covid, they should be handed over to their parents. He also advised students to strictly follow the Covid protocol including wearing masks and sanitising hands among others, while attending the school. He urged parents to ensure that their children followed the Covid protocol strictly.
