The General Education and the Health departments are mulling whether to have classes till noon for school students and continue with online sessions in the afternoon or have full-day sessions for three days for one batch and then get the next batch in for the following three days once schools reopen on November 1.
The proposals were put forward at a high-level meeting of officials of both departments, led by Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty and Minister for Health Veena George, to finalise the modalities for the reopening of schools. Introduction of bio-bubbles is also being considered.
The Ministers told mediapersons that the meeting discussed a range of issues, and had entrusted the Principal Secretaries of both the departments and the Director of General Education to prepare a comprehensive report at the earliest. The minutest detail, from the time children leave home for school and return, will be scrutinised to make the arrangements.
The meeting discussed aspects such as renovation of school structures, cleaning of toilets, how many students to seat on a bench, sanitising and masking, arrangements for school buses, how to reserve seats for children on public transport, how to serve food, if mid-day meals can be activated or if food allowance can be provided.
Draft guidelines
After detailed discussions between the Principal Secretaries, talks will be held with other stakeholders such as Local Self-Government, the Public Works and the Transport departments. The draft guidelines will then be circulated among the departments before finalising the guidelines.
The guidelines will be prepared after seeking field-level recommendations, the Ministers said. Meetings will be held with teachers’ organisations, political parties, youth organisations, local body officials and District Collectors. School-level meetings will also be held. Health protection committees will be formed in schools along with support committees.
Parental awareness and counselling, their vaccination and that for close relatives will also be ensured.
The guidelines will be exhaustive so that students and parents have no cause for worry. Once these are ready, training sessions on the protocol will be held.
The sero-prevalence study report that will be ready by the month-end will also be taken into consideration. All infection control measures will be taken to protect students and teachers, the Ministers said.
