As Covid cases fall, Goa to reopen schools from February 21

On Wednesday, the Union health ministry had directed states to ease or even do away with the additional restrictive measures that had been imposed to deal with the third wave of the pandemic.

CM Pramod Sawant said that the Directorate of Education will decide on the modalities of reopening schools but the state government had given its nod for children to return to schools. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)

With Covid-19 infections in the state on the decline, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday announced that the government had decided to reopen schools from Class 1 to Class 12 from February 21. After functioning in the online mode for almost two years, students are set to return to their classrooms next week.

Sawant said that the Directorate of Education will decide on the modalities of reopening schools but the state government had given its nod for children to return to schools. “The (state) expert committee had already recommended it and at present, the Covid situation is also under control. Even national guidelines are for opening schools and some states have already started it. Taking all this into account, we have decided to start schools from February 21,” Sawant said.

He added that in the future, examinations will also be held in the offline mode.

A circular issued by the Director of Education Bhushan Savaikar on Thursday read: “As Covid-19 cases are reducing day by day in the state, it is decided by the competent authority to re-open all educational institutions from Std 1 to Std 12 w.e.f 21/02/2022 by following Covid-19 appropriate behavior and as per SOP guidelines…”

On Wednesday, the Union health ministry had directed states to ease or even do away with the additional restrictive measures that had been imposed to deal with the third wave of the pandemic.

Senior officials of the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) in Goa on Wednesday announced that the state had achieved 100 per cent vaccination of both the doses of the Covid-19 vaccine among adults in the state. DHS director Dr Ira Almeida said on Wednesday, “We have successfully completed the 100 per cent immunisation of all the people in Goa. We had a target of 11.66 lakh as our population and as of today, we have completed 100.058 per cent. We will now integrate Covid vaccination programme into our routine vaccination programme. However, swab collection and testing will continue on all days. Covid vaccination centres will now close but vaccine will be available through our routine immunisation centres.”

Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai said on Thursday, “I am very happy to say that the present setup in Goa has succeeded in implementing cent per cent vaccination. It’s a great achievement because once upon a time, this state has suffered a lot due to the shortage of oxygen and treatment, among other things. Such allegations were there.” Pillai also congratulated the people of Goa, the government and the opposition parties in the state.

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