With schools in the state for classes 10 and 12 reopening from Monday, most schools, including private ones, on Sunday were busy giving final touches to their preparedness, as per the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the state school education and literacy department.
On Sunday, the education department held a webinar, which saw the participation of district education officers (DEOs) and deputy superintendents of education (DSEs), to took stock of schools’ preparedness.
Special project officer (SPO) at Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC) Abhinav Kumar said, “The DEOs and DSCs concerned were informed about the SOP in detail. In a bid to avoid chaos, preparedness of schools was also evaluated.”
Schools would be allotted certain funds for taking precautionary measures to prevent coronavirus infection, including masks, thermal scanners, and sanitisers, the SPO said. However, schools have been asked to use their own development funds till the fund reaches them, he said.
The department has issued a detailed standard operating procedure (SOP) for reopening schools for classes 10 and 12 in view of the upcoming examinations of all three boards- Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) next year.
Hand wash, sanitisation, face masks and social distancing feature in the strict check-list made for students and teachers in a bid to fight Covid-19 while entering school campuses, according to the SOP released on Saturday evening.
The SOP states that all students would not be called in one go. Instead, they would be given entry on alternate days based on their roll numbers, following the odd-even formula. However, most schools had not informed guardians till Sunday evening about the development.
According to the SOP, the schools will run in two shifts–students of class 10 will be called in the first shift, while those of class 12 will be called in the second.
However, the guardians will have to submit a written declaration, stating that they are sending their wards to schools for seeking guidance from teachers in view of the upcoming board examinations. They will also have to mention name, class, roll number, home address and mobile number in the declaration.
Besides the students, the teaching and non-teaching staff of the schools will also have to undergo thermal scanning before entering the campus. Their temperature will be monitored on a daily basis. Sanitisers or soap will be kept at entry points and students will be allowed to enter only after washing or sanitising their hands properly, as per the guideline.
Students from containment zones will not be permitted to go to schools.
Besides, if any student falls sick during class, the health centre concerned and his/her guardians will be immediately informed.
The schools have also been asked to display numbers of state helpline, local administration and health officials on notice board and other places. However, the high schools that were made quarantine centres for Covid-19 patients and suspects would not reopen on Monday. They would be reopened after proper sanitisation.