For the first time since March 19, 2020, schools will reopen in the national capital on Monday and students will walk the corridors again with their classmates, albeit following social distancing norms and a host of other protocols that have been set by the Directorate of Education (DoE) to ensure a safe environment for classes to resume.
Students of Class 10 and 12 have been allowed to attend classes in schools so that they are able to complete their practicals, project work and counselling requirements ahead of the CBSE examinations that will be conducted between May 4 and June 10.
The government has reiterated that physical attendance is not compulsory and students would attend schools only with the consent of their parents. The schools have to be outside the containment zones to be able to function.
Heads of schools have been asked to ensure that no symptomatic child/employee is allowed on the campus. Everyone will have to undergo mandatory thermal screening at the school entry gate and compulsory hand sanitisation before entering classrooms, laboratories and public utility areas.
Thorough sanitisation
To prepare the schools for the classes to restart, the managements have been asked to ensure thorough sanitisation of the premises and ensure availability of key supplies like thermal scanners, disinfectants, masks, among others. Heads of schools have also been asked to plan specific timetables, as per the capacity of the classrooms/labs, with not more that 12 to 15 students in one group and ensure “bubbling effect”, which means that the same students would be repeated in groups.
School timings will also be staggered with a gap of at least 15 minutes to avoid crowding at the school’s main entrance/exit gate and a gap of one hour has to be maintained between the exit of the last group of the morning shift and the entry of the first group of the evening shift in double-shift schools.
The DoE guidelines state that only academic activities will be permitted on campus and there will be no assembly, social events, extracurricular or physical outdoor activities. Students will be asked not to share books, copies and stationery items.
Schools were closed across the country in March last year following the outbreak of COVID-19 and the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain its spread.