On Monday, the Delhi government was instructed by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to introduce a combination of in-person and virtual classes in schools and colleges, allowing for flexibility in teaching methods.
The air quality control panel made a decision following the Supreme Court’s directive to evaluate the possibility of resuming in-person classes in schools and colleges in Delhi-NCR.
The committee has loosened some rules in Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and GRAP IV, allowing educational establishments like schools and colleges in the Delhi-NCR areas to operate in a hybrid manner.
It requested the authorities in the Delhi-NCR area to decide whether to implement the hybrid teaching model.
Although the Supreme Court of India declined to ease GRAP IV measures in Delhi on Monday, it instructed the CAQM to review potential relaxation of norms for students.
The court approved a special rule for schools due to concerns raised by parents from disadvantaged communities about the impact of school closures on students’ access to mid-day meals and lack of internet access for online classes.
According to Clause 5 of GRAP Stage 4, the CAQM ordered that there should be no in-person classes for students from nursery to XII in Delhi, and it was also required for the neighboring towns of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida). Furthermore, the restrictions on in-person classes in GRAP 4 also apply to educational institutions and colleges according to clause 8.
