News Analysis India

Tag: Punjab schools

  • Schools in Punjab set to reopen for all classes from August 2

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Schools in Punjab will start conducting physical classes right from pre-primary levels from Monday, state School Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said on Sunday.

    The government had already allowed reopening of schools for classes 10 to 12 from July 26.

    On Saturday, the state government had allowed reopening of schools for all classes from August 2 as it further relaxed Covid restrictions in the wake of declining cases.

    “Following the approval of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in view of the present Covid situation, the Education Department is all set to reopen schools for all classes from August 2 onwards,” said Singla in an official statement here.

    The minister said the timing of schools will remain the same which is from 8 am to 2 pm.

    Parents will have to provide written consent before sending their wards to schools, he said.

    Singla said the reopening of schools would play an important role to assess the learning of students during the pandemic as the teachers were able to contact the students through virtual classes only.

    After the assessment of students, the teachers would focus on the fields which will be requiring more attention, he said.

    He said the reopening of schools will also provide a chance to schools and teachers to teach the practical subjects in a better way by conducting practical classes.

    Singla also directed the department officials and school managements to ensure proper cleaning of classrooms and follow COVID-19 norms as per the guidelines of the Government of India and the state government from time to time.

    The minister directed the district education officers to ensure both full vaccination of teaching and non-teaching staff before allowing them to conduct physical classes and should also arrange availability of vaccine for school staff on priority basis in liaison with respective district administration.

    He said random testing will also be conducted in schools with the ratio of 100:1 students and the secretary school education will be reviewing the situation on a weekly basis.

     

  • Punjab schools to open from July 26, with a rider

    By Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Schools for Class 10 to 12 in Punjab are all set to open from July 26, with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday announcing further relaxations, including an increase in the number of people in indoor gatherings to 150 and outdoors to 300, subject to an upper limit of 50% capacity.

    Taking note of the decline in Covid positivity to 0.3%, with reproduction number at 0.75 for Punjab (lower than the national average), he said schools will be allowed to open for classes 10 to 12, but only those teachers and staff, who are fully vaccinated, shall be allowed to be physically present.

    Physical presence of the students shall be purely at the consent of the parents and the option of virtual classes shall be continued. An undertaking to this effect shall be submitted to the Deputy Commissioners concerned, he directed.

    If the situation remains under control, the remaining classes shall similarly be allowed to open from August 2, the Chief Minister announced, pointing out that the Cambridge University has predicted that the cases shall further decline in the coming weeks.

    With respect to social gatherings, he said artistes and musicians shall be allowed at such functions or celebrations in all areas, with adherence to due Covid protocols.

    The relaxations came days after the Chief Minister had ordered the opening of bars, cinema halls, restaurants, spas, swimming pools, coaching centres, sports complexes, gyms, malls, museums, zoos, etc, at 50% with vaccine compliance.

    He had also earlier allowed colleges, coaching centres and all other institutions of higher learning to open with similar compliance.

    The Chief Minister, during a virtual review meeting of the Covid situation, said that the month-wise whole-genome sequencing has shown that more than 90% is a variant of concern i.e. the original virus has been practically replaced by variants, and the Delta variant remained predominant even in June. However, there are no new cases of the Delta Plus variant, he noted.

    (With agency inputs)

  • COVID-19: Punjab to promote students of classes 5, 8, and 10 without exams

    By ANI
    CHANDIGARH: Amid the continuous surge in COVID-19 cases, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday announced that all Class 5, 8, and 10 students be promoted to the next class, without taking any examination.

    The Chief Minister took these decisions during a virtual COVID review meeting with top officials and medical experts.

    Captain Amarinder said while the state had closed all educational institutions till April 30, bringing down the positivity in the 11-20 age group, relief was needed to be provided to school children going for exams.

    For the class 5 students, since exams of four out of five subjects have already been conducted, results may be declared by the Punjab State Education Board (PSEB) on the basis of the marks obtained by the students in respect of four subjects, ignoring the fifth subject. Results for classes 8 and 10 may be declared on the basis of Pre-Board examinations or the internal assessment of the respective schools, the Chief Minister directed the Education Department.

    He also said that the decision on Class 12 PSEB exams, which have already been postponed, will be taken later, based on the emerging situation.

    The Chief Minister, who had earlier this week written to the Union Education Minister in this regard, expressed satisfaction at the Centre’s decision to postpone Class 12 CBSE exams and cancellation of Class 10 CBSE exams in view of the pandemic.

    Medical Education Minister OP Soni, Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla, Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan, DGP Dinkar Gupta were among those who attended the meeting. 

  • Schools reopen in Punjab for classes 5 to 12

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Schools in Punjab reopened for students of classes 5 to 12 on Thursday, allowing children to return to classrooms after months of online learning.

    Schools across states, including Punjab, have largely remained closed since March last year when the country was placed under lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

    School authorities said they strictly adhered to coronavirus-related safety guidelines and teachers ensured children maintained social distancing.

    ALSO READ: Tamil Nadu to hold second COVID-19 vaccination dry run on Friday, this time in all districts

    Some schools also provided masks to students.

    Students said they were excited to be meeting their classmates and teachers after long.

    In Hoshiarpur, students of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Talwara were a happy lot as they entered the school premises.

    ALSO READ: Odisha reports zero new COVID-19 deaths for first time in more than six months

    They were given a warm welcome by the school principal and teachers upon their arrival.

    School principal Suresh Kumari said out of 740 students, 625 attended school.

    All benches were sanitised ahead of the opening of the school.

    Several parents, who came to attend the parent-teacher meeting, also expressed happiness over the reopening of schools and said they had been waiting for it for a long time.

    ALSO READ: India, Sri Lanka looking at post-COVID cooperation: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

    Jasandeep Kaur, a Class 6 student, said she was overjoyed to have come to school after a long time and meet her teachers and classmates.

    District Education Officer (Secondary) Harjit Singh and District Education Officer (Primary) Sanjiv Gautam said attendance in schools was good.

    In Amritsar, most schools saw around 50 per cent attendance, according to officials.

    District Education Officer Satinderbir Singh said, “Today was the first day and most parents and students were not aware of the reopening of schools across Punjab.”

    He said in the coming days, more students will return to schools.

    The consent of students’ parents was taken for sending them to schools, he added.

    Punjab Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla had on Wednesday said that following the persistent demand of parents, the state government had decided to reopen all government, semi-government and private schools from January 7.

    The school timings will be from 10 am to 3 pm.

  • Classes V-XII to reopen in Punjab today; January 18 date for Rajasthan

    By Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH/JAIPUR/DEHRADUN: All schools for Class V to XII will reopen in Punjab on Thursday, while higher educational institutions, coaching centres as well as schools start functioning from January 18 in Rajasthan. Universities and colleges in another northern state, Uttarakhand, will reopen in the first week of February. 

    All these states will ensure restrictions apart from the SOPs related to Covid for reopening schools, colleges and universities. In Rajasthan, schools will only allow Classes IX to XII students, while final-year students of degree courses will attend classes in colleges and universities.

    Punjab school education minister Vijay Inder Singla said the government has decided to reopen schools from January 7 following the persistent demand of parents. Schools timings have been fixed from 10 am to 3 pm. Singla said the education department had taken feedback from the school heads and, besides ensuring safety of the children, they have also suggested the department to reopen the schools before the annual exams for final revision of studies.

    After a review meeting, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot announced that educational institutions could start functioning in the improved scenario which is better than about a month ago.  The Covid recovery rate is 96.31% in the state, with some districts reporting almost no cases. Classes will only have 50% of the total strength of students on each day on an alternate basis.

    However, medical colleges, dental colleges, nursing colleges and paramedical colleges will reopen from January 11 in view of the upcoming plan for Covid vaccination. Teachers will also be given special training by the health department, said Rajasthan officials.

    The Rajasthan government’s decision is being widely welcomed in the coaching hub of Kota even as many parents struck a wary note on allowing their children to go out for classes. “We will enforce all protocols prescribed by the government,” said Naveen,  Maheshwari director, Allen Career Institute.

    State seeks inputs from schoolsThe State Education minister Vijay Inder Singla said following the CM’s directions, all school authorities have been asked to strictly comply with Covid precautions. The government had taken feedback from school heads.