All educational institutions in Telangana to be shut from Wednesday

Medical colleges to be remained open; Move comes amid rising Corona cases across the country

Hyderabad: With Covid-19 cases on the rise across the country, the Telangana government on Tuesday decided to temporarily close all educational institutions and hostels barring medical colleges in the State, commencing Wednesday. Necessary orders have been issued for the closure of all educational institutions as well as hostels immediately.

In a statement in the Assembly here, Education Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy said Covid-19 cases were on the rise across the country especially in neighbouring States. She pointed out that there were sporadic incidents of a large number of Covid-19 cases being reported especially in educational institutions in the State as well.

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“Due to the mass congregation of students, there is every possibility of the virus spreading further. Several States like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh have already closed educational institutions. There is also an increasing number of requests from parents who are concerned about the health of their children,” she said, adding: “Hence, it has been decided to close all educational institutions including government and private educational institutions and hostels from Wednesday. Online classes may be continued.”

An order to close all educational institutions was issued by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar on Tuesday. “All educational institutions – Private and Government in the State of Telangana, except Medical Colleges, shall remain closed till further orders. Online/distance learning will continue as earlier,” reads the order.

Sources in the School Education Department said that it has sought clarification from the government on whether teachers have to attend to duties in school. “As educational institutions will remain closed till further orders, the government will decide on the conduct of the examinations,” department sources said.

Earlier, the State government had permitted the reopening of the educational institutions for physical classes for Classes 9 and above from February 1, followed by Classes 6 to 8 from February 24. Prior to the reopening of schools and colleges, to ensure academics of the students do not get affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government had commenced online digital classes through T-SAT Network channels and Doordarshan from September 1 last year.

People have been advised to cooperate with the measures being taken by the State government to contain the spread of the coronavirus by following the Covid-19 safety precautions including wearing masks, observe physical distancing and other precautions like washing or sanitising hands at regular intervals.

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