There are about 80 government industrial training institutes and over 450 private teaching centres in Tamil Nadu that cater to more than 60,000 students every year. In addition, there are more than 2,500 typewriting institutes, including 300 in Chennai

According to a senior official from the Directorate of Technical Education (DoTE), a specific standard operating procedure (SOP) has been issued by the DoTE that has to be adopted by the institutes to ensure the safety of the students. “All the technical institutes were instructed to sanitise tools four times in a day by using sodium hypochlorite solutions and the management of the institutes should ensure that the students are wearing triple-layer face masks during training sessions,” he added. “To ensure everyone sanitised their hands before and after using training equipment, a hand wash system that consists of contactless sanitiser and a pedal-operated soap dispenser should be installed,” he said. The institutions should also ensure that social distance was maintained among students and teaching staff as per the norms.

Every Institute should maintain a daily register containing students’ name, address, mobile number, and time of entry and exit, he said. A gap of at least 15 minutes should be given between two batches for effective cleaning. “The management should ensure regular counselling is given for students and teachers reporting mental health issues such as anxiety and depression,” he said. Also, they should sensitise students, parents, teachers and staff to create awareness on COVID appropriate behaviour as detailed in the SOP.

Chennai District Commerce Institutes Association senior member and ex-president N Mohan said usually students from Class 10 to Class 12 join for typewriting and shorthand classes by the end of March, and appear for junior-level exams in August. “This year, however, about two lakh students will have to wait to appear for February 2021 exams,” he said.