New Delhi: With the schools in Kerala set to resume physical classes in full capacity from Monday, state education minister V Sivankutty launched a cleaning drive at a government school in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.
Allotting Saturday and Sunday for the cleaning programme, the state education minister himself took part in the drive along with other officials and several people from various political parties.
Earlier, Sivankutty had given a call to people to engage in the cleaning programme at schools in their locality.
Although the schools had resumed offline classes last November since the onset of the Covid pandemic in March 2020, it was functioning with half or less than half the total capacity, with students taking turns in attending classes.
Monday would be the first day since the third week of March 2020 the schools would function with full student strength.
Meanwhile, along with the opening of the schools, the noon meal scheme programme of the state government is also set to return in some institutes.
Notably, never before in Kerala has the educational institutions remained closed for such a long time, that is almost two years.
A class 7 student in the state capital, as quoted by news agency IANS, said, "We are just waiting to return to our classrooms. Initially, we enjoyed the online classes, but after sometime it became boring as there is no life in such mode of teaching. Everything happens in the classrooms and schools and we have lost two precious years by remaining home. Hope we will not have to face such a thing again."