The Gujarat government on Wednesday announced that schools for Classes 6 to 8 will reopen from September 2 with 50 per cent capacity.

The decision on resuming physical lectures for Classes 6 to 8 in schools was taken by chief minister Vijay Rupani in a cabinet meeting during the day, state Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama told reporters in Gandhinagar.

Though schools in the state have been permitted to resume classes from their premises, the ongoing system of online lessons for these classes will also continue, the minister said.

Around 32 lakh students are currently studying in Classes 6 to 8 in the state, he said.

Following a huge dip in fresh COVID-19 cases in Gujarat, the state government last month allowed physical reopening of schools for students of Classes 9 to 11 with 50 per cent seating capacity.

“All the SOPs announced in July for Classes 9 to 11 will also apply for Classes 6 to 8. All students, teachers and staff need to wear masks and maintain social distancing. School managements need to keep sanitisers and hand wash in their premises,” Chudasama said.

In the beginning of July, the state government had allowed reopening of schools for Class 12, colleges and technical institutions in the wake of a significant drop in new coronavirus cases.

On Tuesday, Gujarat recorded 14 fresh cases of coronavirus, which took its tally of infections to 8,25,330, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,079 as no fatality was reported during the day, as per official data.

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