Educational institutions to stay shut till March 31 - Hindustan Times
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Educational institutions to stay shut till March 31

By, Gurugram
Mar 13, 2020 08:36 PM IST

A day after declaring Covid-19 an epidemic, the Haryana government on Friday announced the closure of schools, colleges, universities and industrial training institutes across the state until March 31. The state follows in the footsteps of neighbouring Delhi, which announced the closure of schools, colleges and cinema halls on Thursday.

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Following the national Capital’s cue, the closure of various institutes has been announced as a precautionary measure, said officials. Gurugram deputy commissioner, Amit Khatri, said that institutes have been asked to stay shut as a containment measure, in view of the rapid spread of the virus.

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“Delhi has already announced certain measures and in view of the proximity (to Delhi), we also felt the need for implementing precautionary measures,” Khatri said on Friday. He added that the district might also consider closing cinema halls in due course of time.

Schools and Colleges

The state government has announced that all educational institutions will remain closed until March 31. Students, however, will be allowed to attend schools and ITIs for board examinations, annual examinations and other assessment tests. Some schools already extended their spring break for primary students last week.

“In view of surge in cases of Coronavirus in the neighbouring state, the department of school education, Haryana, has decided that all the government and private schools situated in Sonepat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Faridabad and Gurugram districts will remain closed till 31.03.2020 with immediate effect, except for holding examinations,” stated the order from the school education department.

As per the order, schools in the remaining district shall function as per the normal schedule. Teaching and non-teaching staff in all the districts have been directed to report to work as usual.

Following Friday’s directive, some private schools suspended classes, while others extended the spring break. Heritage Xperiential Learning School, Shiv Nadar School, Amity International School and DAV Public School, among others, will be closed from Monday. Other schools are expected to convey information about school closure by the weekend.

Aparna Erry, principal of DAV Public School in Sector 14, said that the school had already started the new session for Class 12 students, but would remain closed from Monday. “While all other classes were on spring break, we had started the session for Class 12 students. School will be closed for everyone, but teachers and staff will be reporting for work,” said Erry.

Apart from schools, all private and government colleges across the state have also been directed to remain closed until March 31. While both teaching and non-teaching staff have been asked to report to work, ambiguity prevails over the status of exams that were supposed to take place in March.

Pooja Khullar, principal, Dronacharya Government College, said that the college had postponed its annual prize distribution ceremony and convocation, following the state directives. “Reappear examinations were supposed to start from March 20, but we don’t have any clarity on the status of these exams as of now. We will have to seek further details from the vice-chancellor. We have had to postpone our annual prize distribution ceremony, convocation, NSS camps and some important seminars,” said Khullar.

She added that syllabus for the semester is yet to be completed and in due course of time, alternative arrangements for syllabus completion would be needed.

Industrial Training Institutes

The skill development and industrial training department also announced the closure of government and private Institute for Training of Trainers (ITOTs) and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) till March 31. Trainees, however, have been asked to attend the institutes for examinations, as per the original schedule.

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