THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the school reopening at Kazhakootam Government HSS on June 1. As many as 997 schools in the district are getting ready to receive students, and the district administration has made elaborate efforts to finish the works on time to welcome students. The last-minute facelift of the schools are being held with the help of local self-government bodies.
Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat on Wednesday convened a meeting of the officers concerned and took stock of the ongoing preparatory works. District panchayat president D Suresh Kumar said 3.28 lakh students will be flocking to schools this academic year and the number of students opting public schools has increased from last year.
“All measures to ensure safety of the students will be completed before school reopening,” he said. Kumar said most of the schools that had applied for fitness certificates have received the same. “Instruction has been given to complete the examination of the rest of the schools before May 31,” he added.
Primary focus is being given to complete the annual maintenance work of the schools and to keep snakes away from school premises. Local bodies with the help of primary health centres will clean and sterilise water tanks and wells. Education department officials will visit schools on Thursday and Friday to take stock of sterilisation work.
Police, MVD to keep vigil
The local police and the motor vehicles department officials have been directed to ensure the fitness of the vehicles transporting students. The fitness certificates of school buses should be obtained before May 31. The schools have been given instruction by the local police to appoint only those drivers, who have obtained police clearance.
The excise department will keep vigil outside educational institutions to stamp out drug sales. The local police and the anti-narcotics wing of the police will also field their staff to address the menace.
The district panchayat, meanwhile, has asked the health department to provide Covid vaccines to students of 12-18 years before the school reopening. The school authorities have been asked to liaison with the parents to check the vaccination details from the parents.