Nursery schools across Tamil Nadu reopen amidst declining COVID-19 cases

Chennai: Nursery schools across Tamil Nadu reopened on Wednesday after a long gap of two years, amidst a sharp decline in coronavirus positive cases, and with the government insisting that face masks are not mandatory for kindergarten children.

Teachers welcomed the students with balloons, chocolates and flowers on day one to help them cope up with a new environment. Several schools which have been conducting online classes, too, shifted to the physical mode today.

"Making them adapt to a new atmosphere which is different from the familiar comforts of their homes will be our primary task. We will start teaching lessons thereafter," a teacher of a leading nursery school here said.

"Face masks have been made mandatory for children aged five and above," Medical and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian said.

"This means that the kindergarten children need not wear masks," he told reporters here when his attention was drawn to the children not wearing the face masks.

The schools have been told to strictly adhere to the SoP on COVID-19 safety precautions. On February 15, the state government issued a GO (government order) permitting play schools and nursery schools to function from today while allowing exhibitions to be held.

The state government had ordered closure of schools due to the pandemic in March 2020.

Ahead of the reopening, the school management cleaned and disinfected the classrooms and premises.