Gujarat: Decline in Covid cases, schools for 1st-9th to start from 5th February

Covid-Daily Even though the state government has opted to continue with online instruction for Classes 1 to 9 till February 5, the number of cases in Gujarat continues to fall, with 6,679 new instances reported on Monday. The casualty count in the state is rapidly growing, with 35 people succumbing to the sickness on Monday.

The education government had proclaimed all schools to stop offline education for Classes 1 to 9 from January 8 to January 31, 2022, in a circular issued on January 7, which has now been extended for five additional days. All government, self-financed, and grant-in-aid schools connected with all boards in the state would be affected by the decision.

On Monday, the decision was made at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. "Keeping in mind the existing corona situation in the state and also considering the wider health interest of the students, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel took this decision," an official release from the state government stated.

"The state government had earlier decided that offline education for classes 1 to 9 will remain closed till January 31. The decision to keep offline education classes closed till February 5 was taken after a comprehensive review of corona situation in the state," Education Minister was quoted as saying in the release.

He also stated that on February 5, the state administration would assess the situation and make a decision about classroom teaching in schools.

The previous choice was to keep the existing teaching method of both offline and online lessons for Classes 10 and 12.

"Attendance is not mandatory for these offline classes and schools have to take written consent letters from parents of students willing to attend offline classes. For students not attending offline classes, schools have to arrange online classes," the circular had stated

Ahmedabad accounted for over a third of the day's new cases, with six others succumbing to the infection. Surat had 418 new infections, which was less than Ahmedabad, but the district had seven deaths, five of which were in the rural areas.

Two people died in Panchmahal, while one person died in each of Botad, Porbandar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Amreli, and Valsad.