On Sunday, Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh ordered all schools to be closed for the next week owing to the intense cold wave and the sudden hike in the COVID-19 cases. As a result, the academic activities have been suspended up to class 8 till January 08, 2022. However, this closing down of physical classes has been exempted from classes 9 and upwards.
Initially, all schools in the state were supposed to reopen today, i.e. January 03. As per sources, classes 9 to 12 will be held from 9 AM onwards but there is no mention of any date. In the light of the COVID-19 situation in almost every state of the country, the government has started the vaccination process for the age group of 15 to 18. It has already started from today onwards and will continue for a long time. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with Health Minister Mangal Pandey has launched the largest vaccination drive for the 15 to 18 age group.
However, the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has already released the date sheet for class 10 and 12 board exams. For Matric or class 10, the board exams will begin on February 17 and end on February 24, 2022. Similarly, for intermediate or class 12, the exams will start on February 01 and end on February 14, 2022. The practical exams for both classes will be held this month. As of now, it is to be seen how the cold wave and the COVID-19 situation turn out in the upcoming days.
Yesterday, the West Bengal government has ordered a complete closure of the schools, colleges, universities, and other educational institutions keeping in mind the sudden rise in the COVID-19 cases in the state. The offices and workplaces will now have to run on 50% working capacity. In Delhi as well, the schools have been shut for quite some time as there has been an increase in the COVID-19 and Omicron cases lately. Reportedly, classes from 1 to 5 have been given winter vacation for now.
A similar situation is seen in places like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, etc. While in some states, there has been a complete shut down of physical academic activities, others have allowed partial closure of schools depending on the classes. At this point, it all depends on how the Omicron and the COVID-19 situation roll out based on which the governments may take necessary action.
