Pune: Schools in Maharashtra reopened for classes 5 to 8 from Wednesday. If the schools work smoothly for classes 5 to 8, Maharashtra government will consider reopening of schools for classes 1 to 4 if schools, said School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad informed on Tuesday.

The Minister has stated that the government would consider reopening schools for students of classes 1 to 4 in later phase. Varsha Gaikwad said, “We have appealed to parents to send their wards to schools starting from Wednesday with all COVID-19 restrictions are in place. Once the schools are running smoothly, we will consider restarting classes for I to IV.”

The Maharashtra Government gave nod to reopen the schools in the state from November 23, last year for classes 9 to 12. The final decision to reopen, however, was left with the district officials. Accordingly, while the schools reopened in most of the rural areas, some cities such as Mumbai, Pune delayed. Many schools in the cities have reopened now.

On the other side, Mumbai continued to remain closed. The Mumbai administration on January 16 had prolonged its order to keep the schools shut till further notice while the schools in Thane Rural have been allowed to reopen from Wednesday.

On the other side, Education Minister has also declared the examination dates for the Maharashtra SSC, HSC Board Examinations for this year. As per the notice declared, the HSC (Class 12) board examinations will start from April 23, while the SSC is scheduled to begin from April 29.