Gandhinagar: Schools, colleges and universities in Gujarat are planning to reopen on-campus education for students post-Diwali amid the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
State Education Minister, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said that there was no reason for colleges to remain closed after schools reopen in the state.
“As the government is intently considering starting regular schooling for students from class 9 to 12, there is no reason for keeping colleges and universities closed for an indefinite period of time. College and university students are adults and know how to take precautions against coronavirus,” quoted The Times Of India.
About 20 lakh students in the state are being educated only through the online medium during this period. Moreover, colleges and universities are already demanding to be allowed to resume on-campus education.
Furthermore, the state government is contemplating resuming on-campus education in schools from November 23 itself, after the festivities get over. This adds pressure to restart colleges and universities as well.
The education minister also stated that the state government will shortly initiate consultations with the association of universities and colleges and begin the exercise of drafting a standard operating procedure (SOP) for starting on-campus education in colleges and universities post-Diwali.
However, a final decision in this regard is yet to be made. Chudasama added that the decision will be taken after due consideration of all aspects of the safety of the students.