Strict adherence to guidelines – Minister of School Education Prof. Varsha Gaikwad
The highest priority is given to the health and safety of students through the covid vaccine. 
Mumbai: Vaccination of 15 to 18-year-olds has been started from today to prevent Covid-19. In this connection, the Minister for School Education Prof. Varsha Gaikwad reviewed the plan for vaccinating the students of class IX to XII in the state. Stating that the health and safety of the students is the top priority, he directed to strictly follow the guidelines regarding Covid.
School Education Minister Prof. Gaikwad said that considering the increasing prevalence of Covid-19, students need to be vaccinated 100 per cent. Now that vaccination has started for 15 to 18-year-olds, all schools should plan and vaccinate students in this age group immediately. Where teachers and non-teaching staff have not yet been vaccinated, they should be vaccinated immediately.
Crowd activities should be avoided in schools by strictly following the guidelines regarding Covid. 50-50% of students should be present in the school to avoid crowds. Projects should avoid crowds. District Collector, Chief Executive Officer, Education Officer should take initiative and take care of adherence to guidelines, vaccination etc.
If a student or teacher/staff is found to be infected with Covid, further decisions should be taken immediately on the advice of a doctor. He also said that for the benefit of the students, a decision should be taken at the local level and the class or school should be closed as per the need.
Vandana Krishna, Additional Chief Secretary of, School Education Department, said that since students are being vaccinated for the first time, schools should avoid crowds and do proper planning. If a student or teacher becomes infected, they should sanitize the classroom and follow the guidelines. He hoped that vaccination of 9th to 12th standard students would be completed in most of the districts from 15th to 20th.
The school education department is vigilant about vaccinating students. The number of students in class IX to XII in the state is 65 lakh 23 thousand 911 and vaccination of all students has been planned, informed Education Commissioner Vishal Solanki.
The meeting was attended online by senior officers of the school education department, district collector, chief executive officer, district health officer, district surgeon, divisional deputy director of education, education officer, education officer/administration officer of the corporation/municipality, group education officer etc.
