Apprehending a second wave of Covid-19 sweeping the country and Maharashtra, the authorities on Friday announced that all schools and junior colleges in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane would remain closed December 31 as a precaution against the spread of Covid-19.

While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ordered the closure of all schools and junior colleges the country’s national capital till December 31, Thane’s district guardian minister Eknath Shinde directed Collector Rajesh Narvekar to close down all schools and junior colleges in Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan and Dombivli till the end of December 2020.

The Maharashtra government had earlier permitted schools and junior colleges to reopen in phases beginning from November 23 for Class 9 to Class 12, and later for other lower classes. However, the authorities on Friday postponed the re-opening of schools and junior colleges till December 31.     

“As per the earlier orders of the Maharashtra government, we were prepared to re-open classes for students from 9th and 12 standards from November 23.  Though the Covid-19 situation is very much under control in Mumbai, one cannot rule out the possibility of the second wave of Covid-19 sweeping the country and also Maharashtra. Hence, we need to take extra precautions to check the spread of deadly virus during the next four to six weeks,” the BMC stated, while announcing the postponement of reopening of schools and junior colleges till December 31.

However, the BMC announced that the SSC (10th standard) and 12th standard (12th standard) examinations will be held as per the normal schedule.

Welcoming the BMC’s announcement deferring the reopening of schools and junior colleges till December 31, Mumbai Principals Association (MPA) Secretary Prashant Redij said: “We had suggested to the government to first open schools in green zone, study the impact before allowing other zones. We did not expect more than 15-20 percent students to attend the classrooms starting from Monday”.