Schools, Colleges to Reopen in Odisha from February 7

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to reopen educational institutions in the state from Class VIII onwards from February 7. This was informed by Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra today.

As the state is witnessing a decrease in the number of Covid cases, Mahapatra informed that the decision to reopen schools, colleges and other educational institutions has been taken considering the larger interest of students.

The physical classes for students of KG up to Class VII will resume from February 14.

For the current academic year, the students can pick whether to attend classes online or offline or in hybrid mode, he said.

Short-term training and skill development training centres will also reopen from February 7. Hostels associated with the educational institutions and training centres will reopen as soon as offline class begins.

Mahapatra further informed that the class promotion of students from KG up to Class 9 will be done on the basis of classroom assessment marks, similarly the promotion of students from Standard 11 to Standard 12 will also be done through class assessment.

The educational institutions under the Higher Education Department will conduct examinations for Class 10 and 12  as per the guidelines issued by the government.

The schools and colleges have also been directed to conduct bridge courses and short-term courses to make up for the loss of study of students during the past two years.

The institutions can also decrease the summer vacation period if the need arises, he added.