Gandhinagar, Mar 19 (IANS): Amid a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state, the Education Department of Gujarat government has decided to shut down all offline education facilities in eight municipal corporation areas with effect from Friday.

The decision was taken at the high power committee meeting held on Thursday, which was chaired by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

State Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama told the media, "Looking at the rising number of cases in the state, the government has decided to shut down all physical and offline educational activities in eight municipal corporations of Gujarat from Friday. Online education and home learning will continue till April 10. For the rest of the places in Gujarat, offline education for willing students will continue."

Online education will continue in all the eight municipal corporations under question -- in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh and Gandhinagar. The exams for the high schools and secondary schools will be held online in these areas.

The government has also cancelled the graduation level exams scheduled from March 19 to April 10. The universities will reschedule the exams and announce the new dates later.