Telangana: Schools, colleges may reopen on January 31

Hyderabad: Schools and colleges in the State are likely to be reopened from January 31, if cases of corona and omicron see a dip in the State. The government will not cancel the exams for Intermediate or for others as the students should pass by working hard, according to Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy.

She informed that the State government is to decide on the same after a report from the health department. ''We are not ready to either cancel the exams or give pass marks to the students in the wake of corona and omicron cases surge, she clarified. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is to decide whether the schools and colleges will be reopened, the minister clarified. She said that they may reopen the institutions based on a report from the health wing on corona cases and steps being taken.

The government will decide on the same on getting a report from health wing officials who said that the reopening will lead to further spread if the schools and colleges are reopened. In other states the schools and colleges are reopened and in Telangana they are yet to be started amid corona cases rising.

She said that the government will pass or qualify the students who should study hard and get pass marks. The students have to work hard to pass the examinations which will not be cancelled. As the colleges and schools are closed now, we have started online classes from January 17, she said.

She said that the government has extended the Sankranti holidays till January 30. Earlier the holidays were announced from January 8 to 16 and based on the case rise they were extended till January 30, she reasoned. The vaccination drive is going on in the State, she said. The minister hoped that the cases will come down in future as medical kits are being offered by health staff to the people through house-to-house fever surveys. The health department has to give a report and the government will decide on the reopening issue, she added.