Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 11 : While colleges in Kerala are set to reopen from October 4, state Education Minister V. Sivankutty on Saturday dropped hints of restarting schools after 16 months. "With Covid taking over things across the world and now with things slowing down, the decision to reopen schools cannot be taken by the Education Department alone. Closely involved in this are the local government and the health department besides a committee that oversees all Covid activities which is led by the Chief Minister. With the Chief Minister himself suggesting after speaking to global experts that it's time to open schools, we already have started work on it," said Sivankutty. He said the Education Department and all its top officials are working towards it. "There are 4.5 million school students in the state and unlike colleges, the class strength in is around 60. Hence utmost caution is needed when schools are open. We are working on a road map on how classes should start and all things associated with it. Once the roadmap is ready, the Chief Minister will take the final call," said Sivankutty. Earlier this month, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held a meeting with global experts during which it was suggested that opening of schools should not be delayed any further as it could affect the cognitive development of children. /IANS