BHUBANESWAR: With the State government announcing reopening of schools for Class X and XII from July 26, the School and Mass Education department issued a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and reopening plan to prevent Covid infection in campuses. It said that no school will force students to attend classes in offline mode.
“Attendance must not be enforced and should depend entirely on parental consent,” the department said and asked all government, aided and private schools in the State to strictly follow the school reopening plan.
As per the SOP, schools that are outside the containment zones will be allowed to open and there will be restrictions on students, teachers and employees living in containment zones to attend classes in offline mode. The district Collector will also direct schools to immediately shut down in case their zone is declared as a containment zone.
Face masks and six feet distance is mandatory for students and teachers in school campuses. Besides, only 20 to 25 students will be allowed to sit in a classroom to ensure safe distance. Space should be earmarked for each student based on their roll number to ensure that there is limited close contact among the students.
Recess break will be staggered for different classes to ensure there is no overcrowding at common spaces and toilets.
Students will be encouraged to sanitise their hands when entering and leaving classrooms and toilets. They will be encouraged to bring healthy and nutritious food from home and not share it with others. Separate isolation rooms will be created in every school and kept ready for use in case any student or staff develops Covid symptoms.
Each school will be required to have a Covid monitoring team consisting of a teacher and a parent member from the school management committee to ensure strict SOP. The government has decided not to open hostels for the time being. SOP for hostel operations will be issued when it is deemed safe, the department stated. It also asked schools to discourage transport facilities to reduce risk and urged parents to take responsibility for the child’s commute to schools. Schools that plan to offer transport facilities have been asked to run buses with 50 percent capacity with regular sanitization.
SOP ISSUED
Face masks, 6-ft distance mandatory
20 to 25 students to be allowed in a classroom
Recess break to be staggered
School to have separate isolation rooms
Buses to ply with 50 pc capacity
No hostel reopening for now