Due to increasing COVID-19 cases in Mumbai, on monday the civic body decided to shut down the schools of all mediums for classes 1 to 9 and also for class 11 till January 31.
The BMC said, students of classes 10 and 12 are excluded from this decision which means they can attend schools in-person.
Classes for students of 1 to 9 and 11 will continue in online mode as directed earlier, it said. Meanwhile, on the first day of vaccination drive for those aged 15 to 18 years, 6,115 children were administered the vaccine against COVID-19 in Mumbai, as per a BMC bulletin.
Of these, 4,806 teenagers were inoculated at BMC-run centres, 148 at government facilities and 1,161 at private centres, the bulletin said.
Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, told the media that students of classes 9 and 11 will be allowed to visit schools for vaccination though schools will be shut for in-person learning.
Explaining the reasons behind shutting down schools, Kakani said it is necessary to follow COVID-19-appropriate behavior to control the spread of the virus, but schoolchildren often tend to ignore norms and gather together in educational premises. He said they have decided to allow 10th and 12th class students to attend physical schools as their practice sessions and preliminary exams are on.