Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said that the decision on reopening schools in Maharashtra will be taken after Diwali on assessing the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the state.
Schools and colleges in the state are closed since March after COVID-19 induced lockdown. Since then, online learning has become the new norm.
Pawar while talking to reporters said that schools in the state will not reopen till the festival of lights is over (that is around mid-November).
Schools will not reopen in Maharashtra till Diwali is over. After Diwali, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will assess the situation (before taking any decision), Pawar said.
Pawar noted that some states reopened schools in a hurried manner and saw students getting infected by COVID- 19. These states had to close schools again, he observed. However, he did not name these states.