The home ministry recently announced new guidelines as part of Unlock 3.0, which stated that schools, colleges, and coaching institutes will remain shut till August 31. The decision has been taken after extensive consultations with states and Union Territories. The Ministry of Home Affairs further said online and distance learning classes will continue to be permitted amid Covid-19 pandemic.
The guidelines released by MHA reads “Schools, colleges, educational and coaching institutions will remain closed till 31st August 2020. Online/ distance learning shall continue to be permitted and shall be encouraged.”
Most of the state boards have released the results of the various board examination and admissions have started for different classes but all the related process will continue to be online. Experts have nodded to the decision regarding the reopening of the schools in September, if the situation improves. The Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal government too decided to reopen schools in the states from September depending on the situation of the pandemic.
Apart from schools and colleges, the MHA also said that the metro, cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theaters, bars, auditoriums, assembly halls will also remain shut till August 31 while gyms and yoga will be allowed to operate from August 5.
Meanwhile, the union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Prakash Javadekar, minister of information and broadcasting recently released the National Education Policy 2020 that aims to pave way for transformational reforms in school and higher education systems in the country. This policy will replace the 34 your old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986.
Read: Karnataka schools expected to reopen in August, September, says education minister
Also read: National Education Policy 2020 released, major reforms in school and higher education