Re-opening of schools in Karnataka to be decided on December 19

A decision on re-opening of schools in Karnataka would be taken at a high-level meeting on Saturday, officials said on Friday.

The meet would be attended by Chief Minister of the state BS Yediyurappa and Primary and Secondary School Education Minister S Suresh Kumar, the officials said. The schools have been shut since March 24 because of the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

The government faced opposition whenever it tried to re-open the schools as Covid-19 cases were on the rise.

However, the government has now decided to take a call on re-starting the classes as the virus cases have come down and there was pressure from the school management that the results this time would not be impressive if the classes were not taken, sources in the Education Department told PTI.

On Thursday, the officials of the departments of education and health, and the Covid-19 technical advisory committee members met to deliberate on the pros and cons of re-starting the classes.