Citing the World Health Organisation (WHO) alert on the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) decided to postpone the reopening of schools for offline teaching for Classes I to VII till December 15. In an official order, municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar said, “The opening of schools for Classes I to VII for offline teaching is being suspended till December 15. A decision will be taken after a review of the situation and offline teaching in schools for students of Classes I to VII will not be allowed. However, online teaching will continue.” The order would be applicable for all schools under PMC, Pune Cantonment Board and Kirkee Cantonment Board. The state government last week had decided to reopen all schools for offline teaching from December 1. The schools have been closed for the last one and half years since the outbreak of the pandemic. “WHO has declared Omicron as a variant of concern and steps need to be taken to ensure there is no spread of Covid-19 in the city so it is necessary to take precautionary measures,” Kumar said. However, colleges and schools from Classes VIII to XII have started offline teaching but there is very poor response from students and parents leading to most of the teaching still being continued online. It is necessary for students to have a written consent from their parents before attending offline classes in schools and colleges.
