Maharashtra To Reopen Schools Soon. Here Are The SOPs For Teachers And Students

Maharashtra schools reopening: Many schools in Maharashtra are all set to reopen for offline classes from next week.

Varsha Gaikwad, School Education Minister of Maharashtra, on Tuesday released Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for students’ safe return to schools.

Gaikwad had last week announced that offline classes will start in rural areas for students from Classes 5 to 8, and urban cities for students from Classes 8 to 12 following the mandatory COVID-19 protocol. Now that the state government will reopen schools from August 17, the ministry has come out with a detailed SOP for the staff members and students. The minister said schools will resume from next week. This will be for classes 5 to 12 in rural areas and for classes 8 to 12 in urban areas. All the schools, teaching, and non-teaching staff and students will have to follow SOPs issued by the state government and teaching hours will be limited to three to four hours per day, Gaikwad said adding that no cultural gathering and sports events will be permitted presently.

We will reopen schools for students from class 5 to 8 in rural areas from August 17. In cities, we'll reopen class 8 to 12 while following #COVID19 protocol: Maharashtra Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad pic.twitter.com/lHmtVZS1qq

— ANI (@ANI) August 6, 2021

As per the SOPs, vaccination has been made compulsory for teachers and staff. "We have also constituted a task force headed by the collector/commissioner to monitor the resumption and safe operations of schools," said the School Education Minister of the state. Only 15-20 students have been permitted to be present in class at a given time. The minister further added that the schools will call students in shifts or on alternate days. Schools are also instructed to provide isolation facilities and connections with local health departments for an emergency. All school teachers and staff have been asked to undergo an RTPCR test 48 hours before the reopening of the school to ensure safety.

The schools in the state have been conducting online classes since March 2020 due to the pandemic.

Further, the attendance norms in the schools have been relaxed and students will require parents' consent to attend the schools after reopening. The decision to reopen was taken by the state government after 81 percent of parents in the survey done by SCERT Maharashtra said that they want the schools to reopen.

Feature Image Credit: Daily Times