The Goa government will reopen schools from Std I to XII from February 21 onwards, Director of Education Bhushan Sawaikar said.

“As Covid-19 cases are reducing day by day in the state, it is decided by the competent authority to re-open all the educational institutions from Std 1 to Std XII from February 21 by following Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and as per SOP guidelines enclosed,” the order said.

Schools which had only partially reopened late last year following a drop in cases for students of the higher classes were shut following a reemergence of cases owing to the Omicron wave of the virus.

Primary and middle schools haven’t opened yet for students to attend classes since they were shut at the time of the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 and instead schools were asked to hold online classes for students.

Earlier member of the expert committee to advise the government on Covid-19 handling Dr Shekhar Salkar had said that it was advisable to restart schools for students given that the numbers have been reducing and the risk remains as low as it has ever been since the start of the pandemic.