June 1 : The last time this happened was way back in June 2019, when Kerala schools opened for a new academic year, but amidst Covid blues, the first day of a new academic year in 2020 and 2021 was held online, but on Wednesday it was a return to the past, when close to five million school children marched to their schools across the state. Even though the schools had opened last year, there were restrictions on the number of students and at no point of time the entire strength of the schools was present. The state level inauguration of this was held at a state run school near the IT hub at Technopark by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Vijayan said his government was very particular to provide the best infrastructure for state run schools and they have been able to do well in this front. "Oh it's great to be back. It was tough for two years to be staying at home, when we should have been at our schools," said a group of very young students in the state capital city, waiting for classes to begin. State Education Minister V. Sivankutty said that none need to be worried of Covid as all arrangements are in place and the state government is keeping a close tab on the daily happenings. Masks are mandatory at the schools all the time for staff and students. /IANS