As many as 12,000 students or 37 per cent of the total students in Class I in Maharashtra could not attain reading and writing skills due to the Covid-19 situation, school education minister Varsha Gaikwad told the Legislative Council on Tuesday.

Responding to a starred a question raised by MLC Dr Sudhir Tambe, the minister said the finding was from a survey that was conducted covering 1,47,277 students from Classes I to V.