Gurgaon: With schools all set to reopen from Monday for students of classes 6 to 8, the state education department has issued standard operating procedures (
SOPs) for holding physical classes. The decision to reopen schools for the primary section, however, will be taken after one month of observing the response of parents and students to the current move, officials have said.
The SOPs remain largely the same as for the students of classes 9 to 12 who were allowed to attend physical classes in December last year. Timings have been capped to three and a half hours with one student per bench rule. The department has mandated schools to ensure that students are allowed to attend classes only after furnishing a fitness certificate and a letter of consent from their parents.
“Right now we are only going ahead with the reopening of schools for 6 to 8 standard students in addition to the students of classes 9 to 12 who are already attending physical classes. For the next one month, we’ll observe how things pan out,” a senior education department official told TOI. “Teachers have been asked to hold consultations with the stakeholders and send us feedback. Based on these reports highlighting the mood of parents, attendance and feasibility plans for calling students of primary sections, we’ll take a call in March.”
Earlier this month, the state education department had claimed that the decision to reopen schools for the students of classes 1 to 5 students will be taken after February 15. The department, however, now wants to give a month’s time to observe the response received from the parents over reopening schools for classes 6 to 8 and the suggestions given by the schools about the feasibility of calling the students of primary section back.
While schools have claimed that they are fully prepared to welcome the kids back to the premises, many would not be holding regular classes for this session. Only the students who need special attention will be called for remedial classes. Schools have argued that with final exams round the corner, it would not be feasible to disrupt the momentum of the teachers and students.
“We are ready to call students back to the school. We are already seeing almost full attendance for students of board classes. But, we are planning to not call the students of classes 6 to 8 back immediately,” said Salwan Public School principal Rashmi Malik. “