Almost schools in Pune and the neighbouring town of Pimpri Chinchwad in Maharashtra reopened for classes 1 to 7 on Thursday, with officials reporting that pupils were glad and excited to be back for physical activities after such a long hiatus.
Following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of last year, schools and other educational institutions were closed, and students were given access to online classes.
The schools for primary and middle school students in Maharashtra were planned to resume in the first week of December, but due to the development of the Omicron type of coronavirus, the decision was postponed.
In Pune, an order to reopen schools on Thursday was issued by municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar.
"Majority of the schools have reopened today in the district. On the first day, a considerable number of students returned to their schools, looking happy and energetic," Pune district principals' association president Harishchandra Gaikwad told PTI.
Before allowing children to enter, the schools took the necessary preparations to guarantee that the COVID-19 protocols were followed.
The students were greeted warmly by the authorities of various institutions in the morning.
The students were greeted with flowers and chocolates at the Dnyanganga English Medium School in the Sinhgad Road neighbourhood, which was decked with balloons.
"The response is very good on the first day as more than 50 percent of the total students attended the school. There was happiness and energy on their faces," the school's principal, Renuka Dutta, said.
The Hindustan Antibiotics School in Pimpri Chinchwad town registered about 90 percent attendance on the first day of physical classes.
"We had already sanitized the entire campus and classrooms. The students were greeted with flowers and flower petals were showered on them," said the school's principal, Surekha Jadhav.
She said all the students looked happy and the morning assembly was conducted at the school ground while following the physical distancing norms.
