State govt reopens school for classes 9-12 from Aug. 23

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced on Friday that Karnataka will reopen schools from August 23 for students from Class 9 to Class 12 (II PUC). Taking stock of COVID-19 situation in the state, he said that the government has decided to impose weekend curfews in districts bordering Kerala and Maharashtra, as well as to extend night curfews across the state until 9 PM instead of 10 PM.

On Friday, the Chief Minister chaired a meeting with health and education experts, Ministers and senior officials of the state government to review the COVID-19 situation in the state. ‘We have discussed the current COVID situation, also some directions have come at the all-India level about the possible increase or decrease in the positivity rate in the days to come, based on that we have come to certain decisions,’ Mr Bommai said.

Addressing the reporters in Bengaluru, Mr. Bommai said, ‘We have decided to impose weekend curfew in districts bordering Kerala and Maharashtra and the night curfew in force across the state will begin from 9 PM itself instead of 10 PM (it will be from 9 PM to 5 AM), and police have been asked to implement it strictly. Currently, night curfew in the state is from 10 PM to 5 AM.’

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During the meeting, Mr Bommai stated that detailed discussions were held with education and health experts regarding the opening of schools, and also the positions taken by other states in this regard, ‘We have decided to do it in two stages. In the first stage, Class 9, 10, also 11th and 12th (I and II PUC) classes will start from August 23.’

School openings are subject to certain conditions, among which classes will be held in batches on alternate days, as detailed in the order, Mr. Bommai said.

Mr. Bommai added that experts believe that a decision should be taken by the end of August about starting primary and secondary classes up to Class 8 after the possibility of a third wave is taken into consideration and the intensity of the COVID outbreak is discussed. He said that a new COVID-19 task force consisting of Ministers will be developed in a couple of days.