Schools in Puducherry are set to open their doors on Monday, to receive 1,64,161 students of classes 1 to 8 after many months of holding online classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, the government had the allowed reopening of schools for classes 9 to 12.
Physical classes for students of standards 1 to 8 will be conducted in a staggered manner. Like for the higher classes, the primary classes will function from 9. 30 a.m to 1. 30 p.m Classes for students of standards 1,3,5 and 7 will be held on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while classes 2,4, 6 and 8 will be held on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Preparations are on to ensure that COVID-19 safety protocols are followed by the educational institutions, Director of School Education P. T Rudra Goud said, adding that around 90% of the school staff is vaccinated.
“A section of the remaining left-out staff would have been infected by the virus and must wait for the jab after the government-prescribed window period. There could be some staff who are hesitant due to multiple reasons and we will try to persuade them to get vaccinated,” he told The Hindu .
The Director said the mid-day meal programme would be resumed from the first day. On Friday, Education Minister A. Namassivayam visited the Central Kitchen at Lawspet.
On the re-launch of ‘student-only’ buses, Mr. Goud said a tender has been floated to invite interested operators for joining the programme. The buses could be started from the end of this month or next month, he added.
