Health Ministry likely to issue advisory for school reopening

New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Union Health Ministry is likely to issue an advisory to the states and UTs to reopen the schools with Covid norms amid declining trends of new cases.

A source said that the Ministry may issue advisory soon to the states and UTs in this regard to reopen schools with protocols. As per the source, the government is working on a model to reopen the schools as being demanded by parents.

The source said that the Ministry has already asked the experts to explore all the options to reopen the schools for students amid the Covid crisis.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who holds the Education portfolio, on Wednesday said that a generation of children will be left behind if we do not open schools now and that excessive caution is now harming our children.

A delegation of parents had submitted a memorandum signed by more than 1,600 parents for the reopening of schools in the national capital on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, 95 per cent of the eligible population has been administered the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in the country. India's Covid-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 164.35 crores as per the Health Ministry report on Thursday evening, with over 49 lakh doses administered during the day till 7 p.m. So far, over 1 crore precaution doses for identified categories have been administered since the beginning of the drive.