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Schools, Colleges Reopening 2022 Update: As the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is seeming to subside, many states in India have taken the decision to reopen schools and colleges from today i.e., 1st February. After a long break, students will be attending classes in-person soon. As the number of COVID-19 cases have started declining in some states, the central government is working on a collective strategy to keep schools and colleges open even during the pandemic. Different states like Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have expressed their willingness to reopen schools and colleges soon. Even the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman commented on the issue of closed schools and colleges saying, “Due to pandemic induced school closure, our children have lost almost two years of formal education. We recognized the need to impart supplementary teaching and to build resilient mechanisms for education delivery.” List of states reopening schools today: Rajasthan:The state has resumed classes for students from 10 to 12 to attend in-person classes from February 1 while for students in classes 6 to 9, the schools will start from February 10. Madhya Pradesh:Few weeks ahead of its board exams, the state has resumed schools from today with 50 per cent capacity. Telangana:Students from across classes will be attending in-person classes from today. Karnataka:Karnataka will reopen schools for students in classes 1 to 9 from today. Maharashtra:While Mumbai had reopened its classes earlier, Pune and Nagpur have started to reopen schools today. Apart from Schools, colleges too will be allowed to open campuses. Punjab:Students in Chandigarh have started attending in-person classes from today. West Bengal: The state has announced to reopen schools from February 3. Teachers will have to attend schools from February 2. Schools will allow students of classes 8 to 12 only for now. For younger kids, community classes will be held as teachers will hold neighborhood classes. According to News18.com, the government is working with experts from fields of health and education to create model frameworks for educational institutes. These frameworks will act as standard operating principles for schools if they decide to reopen. A timeline on this has not been revealed yet. Source: News18.com

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget 2022-23 on Tuesday, February 1. At the budget speech, Sitharaman stressed on digital education and skilling programmes. Sitharaman said, “A digital university will be established to provide access to students across the country for world class quality universal education with personalised learning experience at their doorstep. This will be made available in different Indian languages and ICT formats. The university will be built on a network hub and spoke model.” The following has been announced for the education sector in the budget: World class universities will be allowed to offer courses in financial services and technology free of Indian regulations. AICTE will take lead in improving urban planning courses 5 academic institutions on urban planning to be made centres of excellence. The institutions will get endowment of Rs 250 crore each A digital university will be established to provide access to students across the country for world class quality universal education with personalised learning experience at their doorstep. This will be made available in different Indian languages and ICT formats. The university will be built on a network hub and spoke model High quality e-content in all spoken languages will be developed for delivery via internet, mobile phones, tv and through radio and digital teachers. The competitive mechanism for development of quality e-content by the teachers will be set up to empower and equip them with digital tools of teaching and facilitate better learning outcomes Agricultural universities will revise syllabi to meet the needs of modern-day farming Skilling programs will be reoriented, and ITIs will start courses on skilling. The Digital DESH e-portal will be launched for skilling, upskilling & reskilling of the youth One class, one TV channel’ program of PM eVIDYA will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels. This will enable all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1 to 12.  

The government is not against Ed-Tech companies; however, they can’t be allowed to delve into areas that aren’t their domain like providing degree courses and diplomas, according to All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe. The feedback from AICTE chairman comes after the technical education regulator and University Grants Commission (UGC) warned universities and faculties towards providing programs in distance learning and on-line mode in affiliation with Ed-Tech companies, saying no “franchise” agreement is permissible as per norms. “We are not against Ed-Tech companies, but they cannot be allowed to delve into areas that are not their domain. Norms are norms.” “We have given approvals to universities and colleges to offer degree and diploma programmes but they are supposed to offer it on their own and not piggyback on private companies or outsource their job to any third party,” Sahasrabudhe told PTI in an interview. He mentioned that after intently observing the companies, it was discovered that they had been instantly releasing commercials and had been providing programmes like MBA and MCA. “These are postgraduate programmes in management and computer applications that can only be offered by universities and approved colleges. Top institutions in the country like the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are also not allowed to offer management degrees, they offer diploma in management. How can we allow ed-tech companies to do so?” he mentioned. The UGC and AICTE have also advised students and parents to check the recognition status of any programme on their websites before enrolling in any course. “I am not undermining the importance of Ed-Tech companies which have emerged, especially start-ups from our approved colleges and universities. All of them have their own significance in terms of skilling and training and they can also issue certificates for the same but not degrees and diplomas. “As far as universities are concerned, it is perfectly fine if they are using the platform of Ed-Tech companies for conducting classes or online exams but it cannot be beyond that and cannot be franchise agreement,” he explained. The Education Ministry had earlier this month also issued an elaborate advisory to parents and students dealing with ed-tech firms asking them, among other things, to exercise caution while making payments. The ministry had said that parents, students and all stakeholders in education have to be careful while deciding on opting for online content and coaching being offered by a host of Ed-Tech companies. Source: PTI

All schools and colleges in Maharashtra’s Pune district will reopen from February 1, announced Deputy Chief Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Saturday following a COVID-19 review meeting. However, Pawar announced that parents would need to give their consent for students to attend offline classes. “For classes 1 to 8, the school timings will be half of the regular timings, but for classes 9 to 10, the school will run as per the regular schedule. Colleges will also function as per regular time,” Pawar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. “The further decision for classes 1 to 8 will be taken in the next meeting,” he added. Pune was scheduled to reopen schools and colleges last week but the decision was postponed for eight days after a spike in COVID-19 cases. Later, the junior Pawar had said that a decision on reopening schools would be taken following the COVID-19 review meeting on January 29. “I am in favour of reopening of schools, but the decision is postponed by eight days following a spurt in Covid cases in Pune,” he had said. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 situation in Pune has slightly improved. On Friday, it recorded 7,166 COVID-19 cases, taking the district’s tally to 13.88 lakh, while 12 deaths increased the toll to 19,429. An official, quoted by news agency PTI, said 3,374 cases were reported in Pune city, 2,261 in Pimpri Chinchwad and 1,205 in rural and 98 cantonment limits. Till Friday, Pune had 2,520 active cases in institutional isolation and 73,471 in home quarantine, the official said.

School principals and parents’ associations were left disappointed with DDMA’s decision on Thursday to not reopen schools in Delhi, saying keeping schools closed is no longer a solution. All India Parents Association (AIPA) president Ashok Agarwal said it is a very sad move, and decision-makers have neither heart nor mind as the prolonged closures will promote and perpetuate class divide and inequality in education. “Studies and childhood of students have already suffered too much which is irreparable. Closing down schools has no scientific basis. It has reduced employment and led people to face hunger. So many people are sitting idle at home and waiting for schools to reopen,” he added. Sumedha Goel, director, The Shri Ram Wonder Years, Rohini suggested that schools for junior classes should be reopened in a phased manner keeping the hybrid model at its core. “Keeping the schools closed is not a solution. Like a seedling requires the right amount of water, sunlight, air to grow, similarly, a budding child requires social interaction, food for the mind and soul, emotional well-being, etc to attain holistic growth. “Covid-appropriate behaviour will be followed in schools to welcome back students and give them a congenial environment for growth and development. We propose the government enforce a law for mandatory vaccination, and impose a fine on the non-vaccinated adults.” The drive would be beneficial for children below 15 years, Goel said, adding the entire school staff should be fully vaccinated, and every fortnight, school spaces will be sanitised. Schools and colleges will continue to remain closed in the national capital and the issue will be taken up in the next meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), officials said on Thursday. During the meeting, the Delhi government, for its part recommended the reopening of schools, saying it was necessary to prevent further damage to the social and economic well-being of children as the COVID-19 situation in the capital has improved. Though the schools were briefly reopened, they have shut again on December 28 last year in view of the third wave of COVID-19 driven by the Omicron variant. “Today’s decision is deeply disappointing. The DDMA chairperson (lieutenant governor) and members should publicly disclose the reasons for keeping schools closed but allowing everything else, particularly when every expert body has recommended it,” said Tanya Agarwal, a lawyer who has been vocal about the reopening of schools. According to a survey conducted by the online platform Local Circles, 74 per cent of Delhi parents do not support the re-opening of schools at this time, while 66 per cent of parents believe schools should be reopened once the test positivity rate (TPR) falls to 2 per cent or lower. Asserting that online education can never replace classroom studies, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the government had closed schools when it was not safe for children, but “excessive caution” was harming them. A delegation of parents led by Chandrakant Lahariya, an epidemiologist and public policy specialist, had earlier met Sisodia and submitted a memorandum signed by over 1,600 parents demanding that the schools be reopened. Source: PTI