Schools to reopen for classes 6 to 8 from February 1

Schools in the state will reopen for students in classes 6 to 8 for the first time since March on Monday

Schools in the state will reopen for students in classes 6 to 8 for the first time since March on Monday. While most private schools said they were likely to continue with online classes, government schools, on the other hand, said were expecting a good turnout since students had not visited the school for nearly 11 months.

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As per the SOP (standard operating procedure) for reopening of schools, students need to produce a written consent letter from parents and a health clearance. Classes will take place for the duration of nearly 3 hours starting from 10 am.

School across the country were shut in March last year amid the outbreak of Covid-19. Voluntary visits to schools for doubt-clearing sessions were allowed from September, followed by regular classes from November 2 for students in classes 9 to 12.

Suman Sharma, principal of Government Model Senior Secondary School in Sector 4/7, said that students had been informed about the required documents for school visits through WhatsApp groups. “Necessary directions regarding the health clearance have been conveyed to students. Since the strength of students on campus will increase significantly, maintaining physical distancing will be crucial. There will be no prayer or recess sessions,” said Sharma, adding that physical distancing within the classroom might be a challenge.

Shyam Raghav, principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Bhondsi, said that the school was expecting students to turn up in good numbers since students had no interaction with teachers or their peers in the past 11 months. “We hope to see students since physical classes had not been taking place for a very long time. Students who have difficulty in catching up with lessons online will be able to get their doubts cleared more freely now,” said Raghav.

Many private schools said that they’d wait for the situation to stabilise further before calling students. Aparna Erry, principal, DAV Public School, Sector 14, said that the school would call students based on feedback from parents. “For now, only students in classes 9 to 12 are visiting the school. For other classes, we will take feedback from parents,” said Erry.