All schools and educational institutes in Delhi will be allowed to reopen for all classes from November 1, Deputy Chief Manish Sisodia announced on Wednesday.

However, schools will also be required to continue online classes for students who are not willing to attend physical classes, he said. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority.

Parental consent will be necessary for students who wish to attend physical classes, The Indian Express reported.

The Delhi government has also directed schools to ensure that all their staff members, including non-teaching staff, are completely vaccinated against Covid-19.

“It was informed in the DDMA meeting that in all schools 98 to 99% staff have received at least one vaccine [shot],” Sisodia said. “But now they should expedite the second dose as well and ensure that the few people who haven’t yet received a dose [should] get it.”

Sisodia added that schools can ask only 50% of the students to attend physical classes at a time, NDTV reported.

Primary schools in Delhi have been closed since March 12, 2020. In January this year, schools were reopened for classes 9 to 12, but were closed again on April 9 because of the second wave of the coronavirus.

From September 1, schools reopened in Delhi for classes 9 to 12.