No physical classes from July 1 in Telangana; guidelines to schools soon

Hyderabad: The state government is all set to defer commencement of physical classes in schools from July 1 owing to demands and requests made by parents and teachers. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao gave an assurance to this effect after the Telangana PRTU (Progressive Recognised Teachers Union), a major teacher union, met him at Pragathi Bhavan on Saturday and submitted a representation seeking postponement of physical classes by a few weeks. Education minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy was present when PRTU leaders including MLC K.

Janardhan Reddy, K. Raghotham Reddy, PRTU-TS state president P. Sripal Reddy and general secretary B. Kamalakar Rao submitted the representation to the Chief Minister. They cited the prevailing Covid-19 situation and sought continuation of online teaching for a few more weeks.

“The Chief Minister responded positively to our request and agreed to postpone physical classes from July 1. He assured that the government would issue guidelines in a day or two giving clarity on physical classes and online classes," said Sripal Reddy.

The union leaders expressed concern over the safety of teachers and students if physical classes commenced from July 1 as students were not vaccinated and a majority of teachers are yet to receive the vaccine.

While lifting the lockdown completely in Telangana from June 20, the state government had last week announced reopening of all educational institutions and commencement of physical classes from July 1 without listing out the modalities over how this would be launched - whether in a phased manner or for all students at one go.

This created a furore among students, parents and teachers who were worried about their safety in the absence of vaccination. Some petitions were filed in the High Court challenging the government's decision.

The government informed the High Court on Wednesday last that it was not mandatory for the children to attend classes in person and that they could continue with online classes. Parents interested in sending their children to schools should submit their consent letter.