Decision of reopening Odisha primary schools to remain unchanged: Official

Bhubaneswar: Clearing the confusion over the reopening of primary schools in Odisha from January 3, 2022, an official of the state government said the decision will not be changed.

Speaking to Sambad, School and Mass Education Department Secretary Satyabrata Sahu said the decision of the State Government to reopen primary schools will remain unchanged.

Offline classes for students of standard-1 to standard-5 will resume from January 3, 2022. A meeting has been held in this regard with the District Education Officers (DEOs). They have been directed to ensure cleaning of school campus, classrooms, desks, benches etc. before commencement of classes, the official said.

Discussion was also held regarding adherence to COVID-19 protocol and appropriate behaviour at the schools during the classes, he added.

Confusion over the reopening of primary schools in Odisha had emerged as Rama Raman Mohanty, Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET), yesterday said the decision may be revoked in view of the prevailing Omicron situation.

“The state government might have taken the decision considering the previous situation when there was no Omicron scare and daily COVID-19 cases in the state were below 200. The decision might be changed due to the current situation,” the DMET had said.

The Odisha Government had earlier made an announcement regarding reopening of the primary schools in the state from January 3, 2022.

“The State Government has decided to reopen around 27,000 schools for Class I to V students from January 3, 2022. The schools, where Matric Summative Assessment-I is scheduled to be held between January 5 and 8, will reopen from January 10, 2022,” School & Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash had said.

As per the decision, the classes will be held from 9 am to 12 noon without break. The distribution of dry ration among students under the mid-day meal scheme will continue as before till further orders.

Also read– Reopening Of Primary Schools In Odisha: Fresh SOP Issued.