Amid threat of new virus Omicron looming over Maharashtra, the State Government has issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to reopen all schools for offline classes in urban and rural areas from December 1.

As per the SOPs, the classes for standards 1 to 7 in Urban areas and standards 1 to 4 will reopen on Wednesday.  

In one of the series of tweets put out on her official twitter handle, Maharashtra Education Minister Prof. Varsha  Gaikwad said: “ The focus in the first two weeks of school reopening will be to acclimatise and re-orient students towards attending physical classes. Schools to ease students into regular coursework”.

“The government is sensitive to the possibility of a third wave and no laxity in implementation of SOPs will be permitted. Our students are our future. Let us all come together to ensure their health, wellbeing and continued education. #BackToSchool,” Prof Gaikwad said.

“In the event of sickness of the student or a family member, the student is advised to stay at home. It will be the responsibility of the school to ensure such a student’s learning gap is compensated by the school,” Prof Gaikwad tweeted

“School hours will be limited to 3-4 hours per day. No cultural or sporting events requiring a gathering will be permitted in schools. Schools to provide isolation facilities and to tie up with local health,” the minister added.

Meanwhile, amid raising concerns over the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sounded high alert to all its war rooms in the city wards across the metropolis, hospitals and jumbo centres

The BMC said that it had traced 466 travellers who arrived at the airport in Mumbai from “countries of concern” in the past two weeks.