Nagpur Create festive atmosphere on reopening day, edu dept tells schools

NAGPUR: The local unit of the state education department today held an online meet with school principals to apprise them of the reopening plans. District education officer Ravindra Katolkar, who is currently in Mumbai for an official visit, addressed the principals and answered queries regarding the June 29 reopening.
“As discussed earlier, we made it clear that on June 27 schools will reopen only for teachers. Students have to come in from June 29,” said Katolkar.
The biggest challenge for all schools will be to move ahead by implementing Covid-19 protocols even though many of them are not mandatory. Katolkar said, “Sanitization of schools before reopening has to be done. So, we have informed schools about what immediate steps need to be taken to ensure that all of that is taken care of.”
Ashnarayan Tiwari, a senior principal, said, “We have been asked to ensure that the reopening day is seen like a celebration. It should be Shala-Utsav (school festival) kind of environment so that students do not become intimidated.”
So far, there are no mandates for mask or social distancing. Katolkar said, “As and when the government issues orders regarding the same, we will comply.”
Another plan is to form a principals-teachers committee that will coordinate with the education department and take up academic issues. Tiwari said, “A basic shape of this committee has already begun to emerge with us identifying who the key coordinators will be. This way, every school can share its best practices and together can move forward for betterment of children.”
Next on Katolkar’s agenda was the implementation of 30-day bridge course designed by the state government to help students tide over learning loss which happened in the last academic session.
Katolkar said, “From June 29, teachers will start with the bridge course. There has been a learning gap created due to schools being closed during the pandemic. Through this course, we will be able to help students transition from the previous year’s curriculum to the current one.”
But wherever schools are reopened, especially for CBSE affiliated institutes, the task of implementing strict Covid protocols is not as easy. A school teacher said, “We have asked students to wear masks but it’s not something which can be implemented in toto. They have masks hanging around their ears, but dropped below the chin. Only if you point out, they will pull it up. Over the last few months, they have got out of the habit of wearing masks.”