Odisha Govt Defers Schools Reopening from January 3 Amid Omicron

The Odisha government has postponed the reopening of schools for classes 1 to 5. They were scheduled to reopen from Monday, January 3. The state I & PR department said that the government has decided to postpone the reopening of the primary schools owing to the spike in Covid-19 cases in the past two days. Odisha has reported 424 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours.

“As per our previous decision, nodal officers had started visiting schools across the State. As a lot of parents and guardians expressed their reservations and owing to rise in Covid-19 cases, the State government has decided to postpone the reopening of primary schools,” said School and Mass Education Minister, Sameer Ranjan Dash.

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Dash said the decision to postpone the reopening of primary schools has been taken following consultations with all stakeholders and health experts. The feedback of parents and others has also been taken into account while making the decision.

Physical classes for students of 6 to 10, however, remain open. The summative assessment examination for class 10 students will be conducted as per schedule, 2022.

Apart from Odisha, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Karnataka too are likely to close the schools due to the Omicron fear. The Haryana government has already ordered the closing of schools across the state.

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The Maharashtra education minister Varsha Gaikwad, on December 29 had said that the state government is closely monitoring the situation and is likely to make a decision soon. If the Omicron cases keep on increasing then the schools will be closed again, she said. Meanwhile, the Karnataka government had postponed all events across schools and colleges. The primary and secondary education minister BC Nagesh said that the option of closure of schools and cancelling of examing will be considered if the Covid-19 situation is on the rise again.

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