Post-primary classes in Telangana schools from February 24

Naveen S Garewal 
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, February 23

The Telangana government has decided to open schools for classes 6, 7 and 8 from Wednesday, February 24. The decision was announced by Telangana Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy on Tuesday. 

In a circular to all schools, the students have been requested to follow all COVID-19 protocols while attending physical classes. It also says that parental permission is mandatory to allow children to attend classes.  

Welcoming the decision, Telangana Progressive Teachers’ Federation (TPTF) president K Ramana and Maisa Srinivas, secretary of the organisation said that “online education has caused many ailments among students. Even intellectuals have pointed out that there is no alternative to direct classroom teaching and a live teacher. The decision to open schools late is reasonable”, the statement read. 

On Monday, Telangana reported 114 new COVID-19 cases and one death. With this, the total number of cases reported in the state stands at 2,97,712 and the death toll at 1,625. 

In February, private school managements and government teachers in Telangana demanded that physical classes be started for primary and upper primary students in the state. 

According to reports, these teachers submitted a representation to Chitra Ramachandran, Special Chief Secretary, Education, demanding that physical classes for students of classes 6-8 be started on February 15, and for classes 1-5 be started on February 22.