Lucknow, Feb 21 (IANS): Primary government schools in Uttar Pradesh are gearing up to welcome children from March 1 -- almost after a year -- after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered reopening of schools for classes 1 to 5.

Preparations are going on in full swing to decorate schools with colourful balloons, flowers and festoons to welcome students on the first day of the reopening of the schools following a year-long break due to the pandemic.

The Basic Education Department has directed all schools to create an environment that would encourage students to return to classes.

Students who have been away from school for about a year and have been attending online classes during this period, can expect many surprises when they revisit their schools. Apart from finding colourful decorations of the classes and gates, the students will also get corona vaccine shots.

According to Lucknow BSA (Basic Shiksha Adhikari) Dinesh Kumar, teachers have been instructed to decorate schools in order to create a festive atmosphere so that children do not hesitate to re-enter school premises due to the long gap.

The schools are also making arrangements for providing safe running drinking water for children.

The schools have been directed to install submersible pumps for the purpose.

It is noteworthy that over 1.83 crore students study in 1.5 lakh schools run by the Basic Education Department in the state.

Besides, over one lakh schools have already undergone transformation during Covid-19 pandemic on the initiative of Yogi Adityanath.

Schools have been decorated with colourful paintings and meaningful slogans. Schools have also been equipped with the facilities for smart classes and libraries.