Schools, colleges in Maharashtra to be shut till March 31

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All schools and colleges in urban areas across Maharashtra will remain closed till March 31 as per a state directive announced by the state health minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday. Additionally, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has urged that coaching classes, including private tuition centres, remain shut. Meanwhile, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay too has issued a separate advisory, informing suspension of classes and laboratory sessions till March 29 and urging hostel residents to go home if possible.

The directives have come after the health department of Maharashtra issued a recommendation that schools and colleges remain closed under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897. The health department issued a letter to the department of school and higher education department of the Maharashtra government on Saturday, stating, "All schools, colleges and vocational training centres in Maharashtra should remain closed till March 31, 2020. However, scheduled examinations such as board examinations of class X and XII or university level examinations can continue as per the timetable. But it needs to be given utmost importance that sick students do not come in close proximity of others."

IIT Bombay has issued a separate advisory, adding that students/faculty and staff members or their relatives who have returned to campus recently (within the last 14 days) from any of the affected countries, must report to IITB Hospital for a health check-up immediately.

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