Classes 9 to 12 students in Haryana can resume school from July 16, only with the permission of their parents, reports PTI. According to the government order, students of Classes 6 to 8 will also be able to come to schools with effect from July 23, said an official spokesperson. However, it would not be mandatory for the students to come to school as online classes will continue.

The government official said students and teachers will have to follow social distancing and other rules for COVID-appropriate behaviour.

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No decision has been taken yet to open school for students of Classes 1 to 5. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday had said that a plan should be made to reopen the educational institutions subject to the strict adherence of the COVID-19 protocols. “Given the decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, a plan should be made to reopen the schools at the earliest,” Khattar had said.

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No student will be pressured to attend offline classes at school.

This comes as the state reported a decline in COVID-19 cases. The schools will make a video available to students, parents and teachers on how the offline classes would be conducted.

Haryana on Friday reported only 55 new COVID cases and 10 deaths. The number of active cases in the state stands at 1,034.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra has also allowed schools in non-COVID zones to open for classes 8 to 12. “It has become a need of the hour to have a co-educational approach to reach out to the children of the last strata of the state,” state’s Minister of School Education Department Varsha Gaikwad said.