Schools shift to online classes for all in Delhi, Gurugram, Noida amid pollution

Delhi's 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 493 on Monday evening, according to the Central Pollution Control Boards (CPCB), which is the worst of the season so far.

The Supreme Court on Monday directed all to take an immediate call to stop all physical classes for students up to Class 12.  

Schools in Delhi, Gurugram and Noida will conduct online classes for all students starting tomorrow, November 19. The Delhi government announced the decision for classes 10 and 12 today, after earlier stopping physical classes for up to classes 9 and 11.

While the Delhi government did not announce an end date for the online classes, Noida and Gurugram have stopped physical classes till November 23. 

The development came after the Supreme Court directed states to look into moving classes online amid alarming pollution levels in the Delhi-NCR region.  

Similarly, Gurugram's AQI was recorded at 402 on Monday evening, which falls under the 'severe' category.

"From tmrw physical classes shall be suspended for Class 10 and 12 as well, and all studies will be shifted online," Delhi Chief Minister Atishi said in a post on X.

Delhi's air quality worsened to 'severe plus' category for the second day on Monday, and anti-pollution measures were implemented under Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

Notably, soon after the anti-pollution measures came into force in the Delhi-NCR region on Sunday evening, the government suspended physical classes for all students except for Classes 10 and 12.