Nagpur: Students of classes V to VIII will be allowed to physically attend classes from February 8. Issuing a notification, municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B directed all schools to strictly adhere to Covid safety guidelines.
The civic chief also allowed the plying of school buses and vans on the condition that school management would ensure all Covid safety guidelines, including sanitization of vehicles while ferrying students. Sanitation of vehicles must be done twice a day (before and after the pick and drop, respectively), the notification read.
Radhakrishnan has issued some guidelines for the schools to be followed strictly. It is mandatory for teaching and non-teaching staff to get RT-PCR tests before they reopen, while it is not needed for students. Masks, thermal scanning, sanitizer bottles, safe distancing between two benches are to be followed too.
Other guidelines included regular sanitization of toilets, doors and windows of classrooms to remain open, one student on one desk, and physical distancing among teachers in the staff room.
Schools have already been allowed to start classes for Std IX to XII, earlier this month. However, most schools are witnessing thin attendance as parents were sceptical to send their wards to schools. Now that the vaccine is here, the situation may improve, sources said.