Isolation rooms, odd-even attendance as schools in Gurugram gear up to reopen

GURUGRAM: The school they walk into will be very different from the one students had last seen, when the Covid-19 outbreak was just beginning to surface. After a three-month hiatus, schools in Haryana will reopen in July. With half the class strength on an odd-even basis every day, isolation rooms on every floor, no sports, no canteen and no sharing of notes.
The preparation is elaborate. Masks and gloves have been bought in bulk. So have sanitisers. Temperature screening devices will be at hand, and biometric attendance systems will be gone. The seating arrangement will change — students must be at least a metre apart from one another in class. And no one will enter without a Covid-19 self-declaration form.

Lotus Valley International School in Gurugram and Ryan International School in Sohna, for instance, have been sanitising the premises. “We are sanitising the buses as well. We will rearrange the classroom seating plan to ensure physical distancing,” said Anita Malhotra, principal of Lotus Valley.
“We have trained our staff and vendors on Covid-19 protocols for safety. We will screen every individual entering the premises. Buses will not enter containment zones and routes will be planned taking that into account,” said Peeya Sharma, principal of Ryan International School at Sohna.
Some schools have set up Covid-19 response teams. “In case any student seems to have Covid-19, the response team will step in. We have placed sanitisers all over the school and will start with classes 9 to 12,” said Rupa Chakrabarty.
All of this, however, is a trial run. If it does not work out, schools will switch back to the virtual classroom. It’s the same for government-run schools. “We will conduct a trial run over the next 15 days in government schools. We will hold district-level meetings to see which model works best,” said education minister Kanwar Pal.
Parents, however, may not be open to the idea yet. Many have started online petitions against the decision. Some said kids did not get a long enough break. “They are studying at home through virtual classes anyway. They did not get even 30 days off during summer vacation. Why should children step out during this pandemic?” asked Komal Rajput, a parent. Safety is the recurrent concern. Rupali Seth, whose daughter goes to DPS, said, “I am not going to send my kids to school. Cases are going up by the day.”
So some schools are waiting it out. “We have not received any formal order from the Haryana government yet. We will wait and watch,” said Aditi Mishra, principal, DPS Sector 45.