The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday once again extended the school shut down. As per the latest announcement, all schools will remain closed in the State till February 15 for physical classes. Meanwhile, online classes will continue as usual in view of the upcoming secondary board examinations, announced by Uttar Pradesh additional chief secretary Avnish Kumar Awasthi.

The addition chief secretary in its statement said that online classes will continue due to the upcoming UP board exams. Also, the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP) is expected to conduct UP Class 10, 12 board exams 2022 after March 10 as the state will go to poll in seven phases from February 10 to March 7, 2022.

Read|Schools for Classes 10 to 12 to Reopen in Haryana from Feb 1: Minister

The state government had earlier ordered a shutdown of all schools and colleges on January 16 till January 23, which was then extended till January 30. In the statement, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said that in view of changing circumstances and rising COVID-19 cases, all schools and colleges have been ordered to remain closed till January 23. Adityanath had also said that the night curfew from 10 pm to 6 pm should be strictly implemented, the statement said. Now the extension has been further extended.

The school closure in the States comes at a time when many states in the country are mulling over reopening the schools as officials and parents claim that the continued school closure is leading to learning losses among the students. This month, given the continued low numbers of COVID-19 infections in some states, the high rate of vaccination among teachers, the roll-out of vaccination for teenagers, many states are considering reopening of classes. While Maharashtra had allowed all schools to reopen from January 24 and left the decision to regional authority on reopening based on the number of covid cases in the area. Tamil Nadu too is considering reopening schools from February onwards, especially for the board aspirants. Haryana has announced the reopening of schools and the Delhi government has recommended the reopening of schools to DDMA; a final call is expected soon regarding this.

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