With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to surge and fresh academic season fast approaching, the Centre is readying guidelines for schools to reopen. As per various media reports, school life will never be the same again as per the draft guidelines prepared by NCERT.
Initially, the Centre is planning to allow only students from classes 8 to 12 will be called in. Students in primary and pre-primary classes will return to classes only after all schools fully reopen, NCERT has suggested in its draft guidelines. This is because the senior students would be better able to comply with rules on masks and social distancing, they feel. This will also ensure that the younger children are not at a risk of infection. According to ministry officials, students in classes 1 to 5, in the 6 to 10 years age group, are unlikely to go back to classrooms for the next three months.
Even for senior students, the plan is to reopen schools zone-wise in a staggered manner. As a result, schools in green and orange zones will be the first to open. “All students of all senior classes will not be called together. They will arrive in batches over a few days so that the school administration has time to brief them on the new seating arrangement and new rules of school life,” The Indian Express reported citing an officer on the condition of anonymity.
The seating arrangement in a classroom will have to follow social distancing, which means two students will ideally sit six feet apart. This means that at one time, the entire student strength of one class or section will not be able to attend class together. Each class will have to be divided into batches of about 15 to 20 students each, said officers familiar with the draft NCERT guidelines.
Each batch of a class would be called on alternate days. “Schools will follow a blended form of learning in which the batch that is not meant to go to school on one day will be given tasks to complete tasks at home,” said a second officer.
No doubt, there is an increased stress on hygiene and sanitisation. Students will have to mandatorily wear masks in class. Schools have been asked to arrange hand sanitisation stations at different points for the students. Classrooms and frequently touched surfaces will have to be sanitised before children come in, once during the day and after they leave.
Initially, school canteens will not function and pupils will be asked to bring their lunch. Children will be encouraged to eat their lunch in the classroom during recess.
Morning assembly will also be prohibited for the first few months. Parents will not be allowed inside the school campus and will have to drop off children at the gate. There will be different entry and exit points for children entering and leaving the campus to ensure there is no crowding at one point.
According to a senior official in the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) quoted by The Print, the final guidelines will be released this week.