Gandhinagar, Jul 23 (IANS): After giving the nod for Class 12 and colleges to resume offline education last week, the Gujarat government on Thursday announced that Classes 9 to 11 could also commence from July 26, subject to 50 per cent capacity and approval of students' parents.

With daily Covid cases in the state coming down to two digits, the state government had decided to open colleges, polytechnics, and Class 12 from July 15.

On Thursday, the core committee meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, decided to extend the facility to Classes 9 to 11.

However, there was no decision on reopening of primary schools.

Similarly to the SOP issued for colleges and polytechnics, the schools conducting offline education will have to keep to 50 per cent capacity and strictly follow Covid control guidelines. The state government has also mandated that the educational institutions obtain prior consent from the parents of the attending students. The attendance has also been made voluntary.

Earlier, the state government had also permitted all coaching/tuition classes from Class 9 to post-graduate and competitive examinations to be functional from July 10.

All these institutions will have to follow all Covid-19 SOPs and carry out functioning with 50 per cent capacity, while all staff will also have to have their first dose of vaccine by July 31.

Gujarat reported 34 Covid cases on Thursday and no fatality, while 53 patients were discharged.