Uttarakhand to re-open school for classes 6 to 12 from this date

The Uttarakhand Cabinet, on Tuesday, approved the re-opening of schools for students of classes 6 to 12 from August 1 in light of the decreasing number of coronavirus cases in the state. Additionally, the Cabinet also approved a proposal to grant Rs 50,000 each to 100 candidates who clear the preliminary Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams. 

This grant will be given under the 'Udayman Chhatra Yojana scheme'. With only 43 new cases in the last 24 hours, the number of active cases in Uttarakhand currently stands at 659. The Cabinet further decided that the monsoon session of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly will be held from August 23 to August 27.

Till Monday, Uttarakhand reported 3,41,778 COVID-19 cases, out of which 3,27,766 people have so far recovered. A total of 7,359 people have succumbed to the novel coronavirus in the state so far. There are only 638 active COVID cases in the state as of now.

Several other states, including Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha, have also allowed the reopening of schools as the COVID-19 situation slowly improves. 

On the other hand, the state of Karnataka has reopened colleges and universities partly, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, are also some of the states that have allowed physical classes for secondary and senior secondary students.

It is important to note that neither the Centre nor the state governments have taken any decision so far about allowing primary students to come to the school, given that vaccines for children below 12 years are still not available.