Odisha schools reopening postponed until Feb 28 amid panchayat polls

In a letter received by district authorities, school and mass education secretary BP Sethi informed that online teachings will continue as before.

Odisha School Reopening: The government of Odisha has decided to reopen schools for Classes 1-7 from February 28. Earlier, the government had announced the reopening of schools for said classes from February 14, 2022. The decision has been taken in view of the upcoming panchayat elections in Odisha. In a letter received by district authorities, school and mass education secretary BP Sethi informed that online teachings will continue as before. Elections to three-tier panchayats will take place in five phases on February 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24.

The letter informed, “The schools for Standard/ Class 1 to 7 which was scheduled to start from February 14 are allowed to open from the said date and students may not come to school. They can attend online classes. "However, all the Teachers should come to school and ensure thorough cleaning and sanitization of the campus. The students should come to attend physical classes from February 28.”

The letter said that the election process for Panchayati Raj Institutions is currently underway. It also stated that the schools for the students and primary and upper primary students had remained closed for nearly two years following the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020.

The decision was made in response to the reports of district collectors who had sought additional time to clean school compounds and carry out minor repairs.

A large number of teaching and non-teaching staff of the school and education department are undergoing training for conducting the election or are engaged in related works at present, the letter said

The government will also use several school campuses as polling stations that will witness the movement of polling personnel and voters. This may pose the risk of COVID-19 infection among the small children,” the letter justified.

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