From mid-March, schools and colleges in India have been shut due to the spread of COVID-19. As the country is expected to enter the fourth phase of the lockdown from May 18 with new set of rules and new relaxations, the government has spoken about the possibility of reopening schools and colleges.
Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, during a live interaction with teachers on Thursday, said schools are likely to see reduced attendance at a time when they reopen. The schools may see only 30 per cent attendance at a time, the minister reportedly said.
According to The Indian Express, other suggestions made by the minister included change in school timings, modified seating arrangements and division of a class into different sections.
The minister said the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is working to come up with a set of guidelines for the reopening of educational institutions. "We have asked NCERT to prepare guidelines for reopening schools and they have done most of the work. The guidelines suggest various things like calling 30 per cent students at a time. If 30 per cent students have to be called in at a time, we will have to see how that needs to work out," The Print quoted the minister as saying.
However, the minister hasn't clarified when the schools would reopen. “The health of our students is our key concern. The schools will be open only once the situation caused due to coronavirus is normalised,” the minister was quoted as saying.
The minister asked the teachers to continue teaching online.
Earlier, the minister had interacted with parents and students in separate live sections and addressed their concerns about the lockdown.
Meanwhile, a committee representing the Kerala chapters of Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) had said classroom sections may have to be postponed at least for a few months. The committee had suggested that important public exams could be conducted by ensuring that social distancing norms are strictly adhered to, reported The Hindu.
Dr. M. Narayanan, convener of the committee, pointed out that the current situation necessitates that the reopening of schools should be postponed, and added that if schools are reopened soon, classrooms could become "a convenient hub for the virus to penetrate deep into the community" if there are a few asymptotic children attending classes, according to The Hindu.
Recommendations made by the committee include dividing a class into two batches consisting of 20-25 students, and ensuring that they maintain a gap of at least one metre in classrooms. It also suggested that classes should be conducted in two shifts for the batches from Monday to Friday; and if holding classes is necessary on Saturday, it must be held online.
According to The Hindu, the committee also suggested different break timings for different classes, and said physical distancing should be maintained during lab hours and PT periods.
Students from different classes should be stopped from mingling with each other, and they should also be asked to bring mid-day meal from homes, the committee said.
