COVID-19: Schools forced to shut again in Gujarat's eight cities from THIS date

Gandhinagar: Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, Gujarat on Thursday (March 18, 2021) announced that all schools in eight major cities of the state have suspended classes from March 19 to stop spread of the coronavirus. 

All classes which were being held in school premises in - Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara, Surat, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar and Junagadh will now not be held till April 10, as per a PTI report.

According to a statement released by the government, the decision was taken by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani during a high-level meeting held on Thursday with Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Chief Secretary Anil Mukim.

All primary, secondary and higher-secondary schools in eight major cities will not provide offline education at their premises between March 19 and April 10, said the release, adding the teaching through online mode will continue.

Presently, students from Classes 6 to 12 have been given the option of attending online classes or going to their respective schools for it. While primary schools from Classes 1 to 5 were providing education through online mode only.

Schools situated in areas other than these eight cities will continue to impart offline education at their premises for the students who have opted to physically attend the classes, Chudasama said.

The minister said that these decisions will be applicable to all the government as well as private universities.