BHUBANESWAR: Schools in Odisha, which were scheduled to reopen on June 17, are likely to remain closed till July 14 owing to the new regulations under lockdown 5.0. The School and Mass Education department has submitted a proposal to the State Government seeking its approval for the same.
The department wants reopening of schools after July 14 as the evaluation of matriculation answer sheets will continue till mid-July and examination for remaining papers of Plus II to be held from July 1 to 15.
As per the new guidelines of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the decision on the reopening of schools and educational institutions will be taken in the early July after the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare prepares an standard operating procedure (SOP) for the same.
However, the Higher Education department is yet to take any decision on whether degree colleges will be reopened in the third week of June after end of summer vacation or will continue to remain shut till July.
Officer in-Charge of Higher Education department Mihir Kumar Das said decision regarding reopening of colleges will be taken soon.
Plus II valuation exercise begins
After two month’s delay, the evaluation of answer scripts of Plus II examinations will begin in the State from Monday. CHSE officials said in the first phase, evaluation will be carried out online in central zone for Cuttack, Khurda, Angul and Dhenkanal districts.
The online valuation in rest three zones - Berhampur, Sambalpur and Baripada - will commence in the next two days, they officials said. Similarly, the offline valuation will start after a week. CHSE Examination Controller BK Sahu said all social distancing norms will be followed strictly at the centres.