SURAT: Health officials of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) ordered Gajera Vidhyabhavan in Katargam to remained closed for two days after the school was found not adhering to Covid-19 guidelines including maintaining social distancing in classrooms on Wednesday.
Health officials also found that the school was conducting classes for class VIII even when government has allowed offline education only for class IX to XII.
A video of the violations went viral after which the health officials visited the school and asked it to remain closed. On Wednesday, along with the health team, parents of a few students too reached the school to question the authorities on why it wasn’t following social distancing guidelines.
“Health officials came to know about the violation of social distancing norms from the viral video after which an inspection was conducted. Students of class VIII were also found in the school for which the government is yet to give permission,” said a health official.
It should be noted that Gajera Vidhyabhavan is run by family of Dhiru Gajera, a senior politician who recently returned to BJP after 14 years.
After a rapid test at Shree Sharda Vidhya Mandir on Wednesday, health teams found two class XII students testing positive of Covid-19. SMC teams conducted test on other students but they were negative. RT-PCR tests of the students and their family members will also be done, said sources.
Till now 18,621 students of 337 schools, colleges and tuition classes were tested, of which three school students are found positive.
The class IX student who tested positive on Tuesday at a Nagar Prathmik Shikshan Samiti (NPSS) school in Limbayat was found negative in RT-PCR test on Wednesday. The student and his family members are being considered as suspected patients and have been ordered to stay in quarantine. “Our strategy of conducting tests at schools is proving successful. By identifying students at early stage we can isolate them and prevent spread of infection,” the official added.
