ALAPPUZHA: Limiting the number of children on a bench to two, conducting classes till noon and not serving mid-day meal in schools. These are among the proposals included in the draft guidelines chalked out for the phased reopening of schools amid the pandemic.
General Education Minister V Sivankutty said the final guidelines will be out in the next five days. The department also plans to introduce shift system in schools. “The arrangement of batches will be decided after detailed discussions with the school managements and parents-teachers associations. As of now, we are planning to allot three days in a week for a batch,” Sivankutty said. He said an allowance will be provided to the students for mid-day meal.
Students will be allowed into the campuses only after examining their body temperature and oxygen level at the school gate. Sanitisation facilities will be arranged at the entry of all classrooms. The minister said crowding of any sort won’t be allowed in classrooms.
Sivankutty said curbs will be imposed on students’ visits to bakeries and eateries near schools. Special awareness programmes for parents will be arranged through online mode. Parents should not allow children to go to school if they show symptoms of fever or any other disease.
Differently-abled children to be exempted in phase 1
Alappuzha: Differently-abled students have been asked to stay at home during the first phase. “The school authorities should arrange facilities to meet any emergency. School buses should also maintain Covid protocol and other safety precautions including fitness. They should also avoid rush in buses. Only two students will be allowed in an autorickshaw,” the minister said. Meanwhile, Sivankutty said there was no need to panic about Plus-One admission in the state. “All students will get admission. If any seats are found vacant in any district, they will be shifted to another district. The number of seats in Malabar region has been increased by 20%,” the minister said.
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