The Union government is working on a model for staggered opening of schools for physical classes following all COVID-19 related protocols, sources said on Thursday.

Schools have been closed in most parts of the country for physical classes after the emergence of the new Omicron variant of the virus. Students have been mostly attending online classes, barring some brief periods in between, for almost two years now due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“As parents have been demanding for the opening of schools, the Union government is working on a model for staggered opening of schools following all Covid related protocols,” a highly-placed source said.

A delegation of parents led by Chandrakant Lahariya, an epidemiologist and public policy specialist, and Centre for Policy Research president Yamini Aiyar, had met Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday to submit a memorandum signed by over 1,600 parents demanding that the schools be reopened.