Schools have been shut since mid-March (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi / Representational image)
The Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank held a review meeting with ministers from states today in which the matter of reopening schools was also discussed. Earlier this month, Pokhriyal had said that schools can be expected to reopen after August 15 and NCERT is devising a framework of guidelines in this regard.
Today, through a series of tweets, the minister informed that he has “obtained valuable suggestions from state governments regarding issues related to school education. Our priority has always been the safety and security of students and teachers”.
He also added that further suggestions will be sought from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Home Affairs before deciding on the reopening of educational institutes. “The suggestions received will be examined and sent to the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Health and Ministry of Home Affairs for appropriate actions regarding framing guidelines for the education sector during COVID-19 times,” wrote Nishank on his Twitter handle.
As reported by The Indian Express earlier, older children of classes 9 to 12 are expected to be called back to school earlier than those in junior classes. For these students too, social distancing norms will be followed. Each class is likely to be divided into batches of about 15 to 20 students.
Earlier, in a webinar, the HRD Secretary of School Education and Literacy, Anita Karwal had said, “We are aware that whenever schools reopen there has to be the maintenance of social distancing and a lot of precautions need to be taken. The way learning happens in classrooms is going to change and there will be a lot of adjustments which teachers and students need to make,” Karwal had said in a webinar.
She had also said that social distancing will be taken care of while calling students to school, especially at entry and exit points at the school.
HRD Minister had also informed earlier that modified seating arrangements, change in timings and further division of the class into different sections are some of the suggestions being considered. He said that it is possible that only 30 per cent of students are called to school at first.