With the State government planning to reopen schools for students from Classes IX to XII on September 1, the Directorate of Public Health (DPH) and Preventive Medicine has directed its Deputy Directors of Health Services to ensure 100% vaccination of teachers, staff working in schools and parents, and has suggested allowing only 50% of students on campus or an odd-even formula for classes.
The DPH issued standard operating procedures (SOP) for reopening of schools, and instructed its Deputy Directors to coordinate with school authorities to ensure that the SOPs are followed.
Screening of schoolchildren and teachers should be done in a week by engaging the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram team, and if needed, other primary health centre teams could be mobilised.
While 100% vaccination of teachers and other staff working in schools should be ensured, all students in the eligible age group for vaccination should be inoculated.
Suggesting alternatives as part of the SOP, the directorate said one way of ensuring physical distancing was to have flexible, staggered and reduced timings for different classes, in a way that physical distancing was maintained along with other guidelines.
Asking only 50% of students to attend school depending on enrollment, rotationally on alternate days, or every two days in a week, and combining with home assignments could be another mechanism. This should be decided as per instructions from the Education Department, the directorate said.
Alternatively, there could be a weekly class-wise timetable for attendance, and an odd-even formula for classes could also be considered. Running schools in two shifts in case of high enrolment can also be considered by reducing the duration of school hours per shift, such that the school is able to manage with the same set of teachers during the overall school hours.
As part of the SOPs, the directorate said the timings of entry and exit for students of different classes should be staggered, and different lanes could be earmarked to ensure physical distancing. For the seating plan, the directorate said as suggested by the Ministry of Health, there must be at least six-ft distance between students in the revised plan, and it was advisable to mark seats that students should occupy.
Teachers and students living in containment zones should not attend schools until the zones were denotified. They should be advised not to visit areas falling in such zones.
Proper cleaning and sanitation should be ensured. Availability of handwashing facilities, key supplies such as thermometers, disinfectants and soaps should be ensured. School transport should be sanitised.
Sanitisers and soap with water should be made available by the respective authorities, while mobile medical units should be available in the blocks and their contact details shared with the schools for contacting them in case of emergency. Symptomatic students, teachers or staff should not be allowed on the campus.
While PHCs should be alerted to handle symptomatic children as per SOPs, health inspectors/block health supervisors/non-medical supervisors should be assigned to each school, including private institutions, to monitor adherence to SOPs.
Schools have been directed to open the campuses in phases, with such activities where they can easily adhere to distancing, wearing of masks and other protective measures. Wearing of masks is a must at all times and at all places on campus. In hostels, staff engaged in the preparation and distribution of meals should wear masks and follow proper hand sanitisation.