A sanitised corridor (red channel) should be created for students from outside the State and those in 14-day quarantine (and their guardians) to appear for the pending SSLC, higher secondary, and vocational higher secondary examinations from the location they are quarantined in. The sanitised corridor will have to be maintained in the examination centre and the examination hall too.
The corridor is part of an elaborate health advisory issued by the Health and Family Welfare department on the basis of directions of the General Education department and suggestions from a committee of experts for students and other stakeholders involved in the examination process to reduce the COVID-19 transmission risk. The examinations will begin on Tuesday.
List of students from other States and in quarantine should be prepared in advance and communicated to schools.
The advisory calls on school authorities to prepare a micro plan that includes the number of students from within and outside the State, the number of classrooms, seating arrangements, travel of students, and other details. The micro plan should be vetted by the health authorities.
Social distancing, hand hygiene, and triple layer masks are mandatory for students from other States or Lakshadweep and those in quarantine. Those found having mild flu-like symptoms should be seated separately and visit a nearby health centre at the end of the day’s examination.
Post-exam, the students will have to drop their answer scripts into large plastic bags that will be sealed and sent to valuation camps for separate storage. These should be valued only after seven days, say the guidelines.
All invigilators should wear triple layer masks and gloves. The time spent by invigilators inside the exam hall may be reduced by using CCTV monitoring.
Students from within the State who are not in quarantine should also practise social distancing and hand hygiene. They should wear cloth or surgical masks. Symptomatic students should wear triple layer masks.
As per the guidelines, students from hotspots in the State should appear for the examinations in centres within the hotspots. If their exam centre is outside the hotspot, they should follow the sanitised corridor protocol.
Training should be held for invigilators and school management and staff on the micro plan and conduct of examinations. Signage with dos and don’ts for students and guardians should be displayed on school campuses.
Meanwhile, State police chief Loknath Behera has written to district police chiefs to ensure that travel of school principals, head teachers, other teachers, and school employees for the purpose of the examinations is not hindered. In case they need to travel to other districts at night, their identity card and exam-related documents should be considered as passes. However, no passes are needed for travel outside the districts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
