Education Minister of the State of Meghalaya, Mr. Lahkmen Rymbui has announced that schools in Meghalaya would be allowed to re-open from December 1. He further said that the consent of the parents would be required for the student to attend classes.
In rural areas, students from grade 6 onwards will be allowed to attend classes while in urban areas, students from grade 9 to 12 would be allowed. The schools will be allowed to function following the standard opening procedures released by the government and the officials.
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Schools in the state were previously allowed to open after months of lockdown. But owing to the sharp spike in the number of cases among the students, the institutes were closed. This announcement marks the second attempt made by the state to normalize the situation of the educational institutes.
However, the cases of students and faculty who were infected were only concentrated in a limited area. As such, the announcement of the reopening of schools came fairly quickly. The education minister announced that classes and attendance were not mandatory and students can continue in online mode.
He also said that the written consent of the parents was necessary for the ward to start offline classes. No student would be allowed to enter the school unless he manages to bring a form filled by the parent or the guardian. The minister further said that classes would resume in all of Meghalaya except in the Ri-Bhoi district.
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The education minister made concessions for attendance to bring peace to the mind of students who are worried about the minimum attendance requirements. The minister further said that they would not take any decision that would be against the interest of the students.
He said that the state had to take this decision because schools have been shut for a long time. And despite ongoing online classes, their penetration is merely around 30%. This means that a vast majority of the student population is not being educated.
Telling the students to think of it as an opportunity to get remedial classes, he said that the government has extended the academic year to February. The academic calendar for the same would also be updated and the schools would be informed of any changes.
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