Gujarat schools to reopen for Classes 6 to 8 in September

Gandhinagar: The Gujarat government on Wednesday (August 25) announced that schools will reopen physically for Classes 6 to 8 from September 2 across the state. It, however, added that the parents’ consent will be mandatory to call students.

The government also said that the physical classrooms must be run with 50 per cent capacity and that COVID-19 guidelines must be ensured. The attendance has also been made voluntary.

"The cabinet meeting held today headed by the Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has decided to resume offline education for classes 6th to 8th from September 2, Thursday. Similar to earlier announcements, the online education will also have to be continued," said Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, the Gujarat education minister.

"More than 30,000 government and grant-in-aid schools and 10,000 private schools where more than 32 lakh children are studying will start offline education in Gujarat," added Chudasama.

Earlier, the state government had allowed offline classes for Classes 9 to 11 from July 26. Prior to that, it had given permission to colleges, polytechnics and Class 12 students.

Similar to the SOP issued for colleges and polytechnics, and high schools, the primary schools conducting offline education will have to carry out education with a 50 per cent capacity and will have to strictly follow the COVID-19 guidelines.