Punjab govt declares preparatory leaves in schools after surge in COVID cases

The Department of School Education of Punjab on Friday declared preparatory leaves for all classes in government, government-aided and private schools, informed the Punjab Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla.

"The teachers will continue to come to the schools. The students, who want to have any guidance from their teachers regarding exam preparation can come to school," Singla said.

"The final examination in schools would be conducted offline while adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines strictly. The schools have been directed that there should be no crowd in schools during examinations," the minister said.

"The detailed directions for conducting examinations while ensuring compliance with COVID-19 guidelines would be issued by the State Council of Educational Research (SCERT). The schools, where students and teachers are being tested positive for COVID-19, would have to follow the guidelines issued by the health department," he added.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoFW), there are 10,069 active cases in Punjab while the recovery toll stands at 1,77,280. As many as 5,996 people have succumbed to the virus in the state.

As per the dates announced by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), the examinations for class 5th would start from March 16, for 8th and 12th from March 22 and matriculation exams will start from April 9.

The examinations of non-board classes including 6th, 7th, 9th and 11th will start from March 15 and for classes 1st to 4th the examinations will start from March 17.

( With inputs from ANI )