Maharashtra school education minister, Varsha Gaikwad, on Friday, November 6, sent a proposal to the state government to reopen the schools, which have been shut since March 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic. This, as per the plan, will be applicable only for students from Classes 9 to 12, and if approved the schools will reopen from November 23, 2020.
Sharing the information, Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad, said, "We have proposed before state government to restart Classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 in schools from November 23. We have not started classes at schools yet due to the COVID-19 pandemic and now we want the students to come to schools, so we have proposed the date of November 23."
"Also, we have proposed that exams of Classes 10 and 12 should be conducted in May instead of February or March because there is rain in June, July, August and September and students find it difficult to reach exam centres," she said.
While the minister did specify that parent’s consent is mandatory, many parents said they preferred the online education mode to classroom lectures due to the threat of COVID-19 infection.
According to Gaikwad, holding exams in May becomes crucial because students hailing from rural areas will not be able to reach their examinations due to heavy monsoon between June, July and August. She added that since students have been unable to attend physical classes, her priority is to get them back to their classes before they sit for their board exams.
Read more: Class 10 and 12 board exams not possible before May: Varsha Gaikwad
Earlier in the day, while speaking about the upcoming examinations, Varsha Gaikwad asserted that the board examinations for classes 10 and 12 would not be possible before May. She further added that the department aims to open schools and colleges for older students first so that the board examinations along with the academic year does not face any delay.
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