Within a week of announcing that the schools and colleges in Tamil Nadu would be re-opened on Nov 16, the state government is likely to flip its decision after it has been surfaced with intense demands from the concerned stakeholders not to resume the schools after the festive seasons and they expressed the fear of a surge in the COVID-19 cases. 

The Tamil Nadu government had on last Saturday poured major relaxations in the state and permitted the resumption of theaters, schools, and colleges seven months after they were ordered to shut down in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

According to the government's guidelines, schools from classes 9 to 12, colleges, and all the research institutions are permitted to get re-opened from November 16 based on the standard operating procedures issued by concerned departments. However, the government has now surfaced with demands to take back its decision and to defer the resumption of schools and educational institutions. 

The opposition parties, parents, and various stakeholders like educationalists are urging the government to defer the resumption of schools by expressing the fear of the spread of the pandemic after the festival season. As per the government's order, the schools and colleges are allowed to resume two days after the Diwali festival.

The stakeholders had cited that the north Indian states are witnessing more COVID-19 cases after the Dussehra festival and they asked the Tamil Nadu government not to run in a hurry in resuming the schools. Parents had urged the government to take the decision by considering the welfare of the students. Along with the parents, the state opposition parties had also voiced against the government. 

The parties had demanded the government to defer the resumption of schools following which the state government had considered taking back its decision. According to reports, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami had on Wednesday convened a meeting at the Chief Secretariat with the senior ministers and authorities concerning the resumption of schools and the demands from the opposition parties. 

The meeting was attended by the school education and higher education ministers and the Chief Minister took stock of the current situation. Following the meeting, the Chief Minister issued fresh order in which the government had announced that it would conduct feedback meetings across the state in resuming the schools. According to reports, the government has decided to conduct the feedback meeting on November 9 and the meeting would be held in the schools at 10 am during which the students and parents can participate in the meeting and share their feedback on re-opening the schools. 

For those who can't able to attend the meeting, they are instructed to send their feedback to the schools through the post, and based on the statewide feedback from the parents and students, the government will decide on resuming the schools. When it was announced that the schools will be re-opened on November 16, the recent development that emerged from the government would likely defer the resumption. 

With the demands and objections, the government would likely be flipping its decision on re-opening the schools. When the resumption was seen as one of the crucial relaxations, the government has been pushed to meet the demands and if the resumption of schools is deferred, it's less likely that the schools would be re-opened within this year.