BENGALURU: In taluks with less than 2 percent positivity rate LKG and UKG classes attached to schools will be allowed to function for half day from November 8. Pre-primary schools (LKG, UKG) are asked to prepare a tentative timetable for classes from Monday to Friday between 9:30 to 3:30 pm, which can be adjusted based on the local circumstances.
Department of public instruction on Thursday issued a set of guidelines for the opening which includes the need for written parental consent before sending one's child to offline class. This is in continuity of offline classes opening for all classes from class one for full day from November 2 (when the state government allowed class I to V to function for full day). Anganwadi centres too have been permitted to be opened from November 8.
As for the LKG and UKG classes, teachers and parents have been asked to exercise caution, sanitise classrooms with sodium hypochlorite mix before students arrive for offline classes. The children are expected to be checked at the entrance and be isolated in case of symptoms. A consultation with the parents will follow before the child is sent home.
Children whose family member(s) is tested positive should refrain from coming to school. Regular health checkups are supposed to take place in coordination with the health department.
Among ways to implement COVID-19 protocols, schools are expected to remind students to cover their mouth with a handkerchief when they cough and sneeze. Except for food and drinking water -- nothing else should be in proximity of the child's mouth. Schools are also instructed to keep disinfectants away from children's reach.
In case of a student testing positive for COVID-19, the school is supposed to be closed and sanitised, and health officials' advice should be sought in knowing when to open the school next (after how many days).
Visitors and third parties are prohibited from entering school. Deputy director of public instruction (Admin) is supposed to ensure that schools follow the protocols when opening. Lokesh Talikatte, State unit president of Recognised Unaided Private Schools Association (RUPSA), Karnataka welcomed the government's decision. It's been difficult to teach those students in primary school, he added, thus a request was made to the government to reopen kindergartens.