Schools in Gautam Buddh Nagar will conduct classes for students up to Class 5 in hybrid mode from Thursday after Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was implemented across Delhi-NCR, district officials said.
The directive applies to all government, government-aided and recognised schools in Noida and Greater Noida, according to an order issued by the District Basic Education Officer’s office on November 7. The move follows directions from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) dated November 6.
District Basic Education Officer Rahul Pawar said the order was issued to comply with CAQM’s directions after GRAP Stage III came into force in the National Capital Region. The measure covers students up to Class 5, while the supplied order does not specify any comparable change for older students.
Under the CAQM direction, schools in Delhi and four NCR districts have been instructed to conduct classes for students up to Class 5 in hybrid mode. The arrangement allows the affected schools to use both physical and remote teaching formats, although the district communication supplied in the report does not provide further operational details on attendance, schedules or the duration of the arrangement.
The decision comes as air quality remained in the ‘poor’ category in the twin urban centres. Noida recorded an average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 291, while Greater Noida recorded an average AQI of 257, according to the report. Both readings fall within the poor AQI category and were cited as the local context for implementing the school directive.
GRAP is the region’s graded framework for responding to worsening air pollution through progressively stricter measures. The school order shows how air-quality restrictions extend beyond traffic, construction and industrial activity to affect the daily functioning of public institutions and family routines across the NCR.
For schools in Gautam Buddh Nagar, implementation will now require coordination between administrators, teachers and parents as classes move into the hybrid format. The order covers institutions across the government, government-aided and recognised-school systems, making the district education authorities responsible for communicating and enforcing the arrangement.
The directive will remain linked to the wider GRAP Stage III response and the CAQM instructions cited by the district administration. Further details on how long the hybrid system will continue and whether the arrangement will change with subsequent air-quality directions were not specified in the supplied report.
