Himachal cabinet to decide on opening coaching centres, schools

Shimla, July 20

The Cabinet, at its meeting on July 22, will take a call on opening residential schools, coaching centres and allowing board Class X and XII in the wake of a steep decline in Covid cases.

The Education Department will make a presentation before the Cabinet about the situation and the possibility of resuming classes in schools. According to sources, almost 93 per cent of the Education Department employees have already been vaccinated.

The Cabinet will consider the overall Covid situation to decide to allow residential schools to reopen. Some prominent residential schools in Shimla, Kasauli and Dalhousie had reopened but after several students and teachers tested Covid positive, these institutions were forced to send children home. It is likely that Class IX to XII will be allowed.

The students and their parents, especially those studying medical and non-medical streams, have been persistently requesting the government to allow coaching centres to open so that they can prepare for the entrance examinations. In the absence of physical teaching in classes, the students are dependent on online teaching.

So far, the government has only allowed medical colleges and ITIs to function, as practical teaching is important there. — TNS