Schools in Maharashtra's Pune city will remain closed for now and will not reopen from November 23 as decided earlier, Mayor Muralidhar Mohol said on Saturday. On the other hand, schools in the state's Aurangabad city will remain closed till January 3, while those in rural areas of the district will reopen on November 23, a senior official said on this day.
The decision on reopening schools in Pune city will be taken after a review meeting on December 13, the mayor said.
Earlier, the schools in the city were set to reopen from Monday.
Mohol said the decision was taken after consultation with parents in view of the coronavirus situation.
Regarding the update at Aurangabad city, district collector Sunil Chavan, speaking at a press conference, said schools in Aurangabad city will be open only for teachers.
"Over 800 schools and junior colleges in rural parts of the district will reopen from November 23, as there are problems in conducting online classes in these areas and the spread of coronavirus is also less in these parts," the collector said. More than 11,000 teachers and non-teaching staff have undergone COVID-19 tests in the district and majority of them who tested positive for the infection were from the city limits, the official said.
Municipal commissioner Astik Kumar Pande said schools in Aurangabad city will remain closed for students till January 3, while teachers will have access to the premises. Meanwhile, schools and junior colleges will reopen in Osmanabad from November 23, district collector Kaustubh Divegaonkar stated in a release. However, residential schools will remain closed in the district, he said, adding that if such institutions wish to operate, they will have to keep their hostels shut.
Earlier, Maharashtra Government decided to reopen schools and educational institutes for students of Classes 9 to 12 from November 23.
(With PTI inputs)
