COVID-19: Not mandatory for parents to send their children to schools from Monday, says Aaditya Thackeray

Even though schools for pre-primary to 12^th standard are set to reopen from Monday it will not be mandatory for parents to send their children to schools, said Tourism and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray. On the other hand, Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope noted, "Schools in many places in the state are starting from Monday. Schools should take care of students by following the Corona Prevention Rules. If there are any symptoms in the children, they should be tested and if any student is found to be positive, the class in which the student is found positive should be kept closed."

"Schools in the state will re-start from Monday. However, it is not mandatory for parents to send students to schools. Under the current circumstances, parents should send their students to school as they see fit. Those who think they should not take the risk should not. Even though the school will start tomorrow, the schools and the parents have to decide the future course of action,’’ said Aaditya.

On the findings of the survey by the LocalCircles that 62 percent of parents in Maharashtra are unwilling to send their children to schools, Tope said the government has taken the decision on school reopening after studying the global experience. "The decision was also taken not to impact the education of the children from pre-primary to 12^th standard,’’ he noted. He urged the teaching and non-teaching staff and also parents to follow the COVID 19 norms that will help reduce the virus infection.

The statements by Aaditya and Tope came days after the state cabinet approved the reopening of the schools amid demands by parents and teachers’ organizations and also by education experts. Thereafter, the state government on January 20 released the government resolution with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be followed by the schools in particular.

Here's what Aaditya Thackeray said about CM Uddhav Thackeray

Tourism and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray for the first time broke his silence over his father and CM Uddhav Thackeray’s health in response to the opposition’s repeated criticism especially for working from home during a pandemic and after his spine surgery last year. "CM is doing fine and he will soon be seen in action mode. It is better to neglect the opposition’s criticism as their job to make allegations and misguide the people,’’ he claimed.

Published on: Sunday, January 23, 2022, 08:55 PM IST