Maha schools to reopen from Oct 4, religious places from Oct 7

With the daily caseload of Covid-19 cases showing a slight drop over the past few weeks, the Maharashtra government announced opening of schools from October 4 and religious places of all faiths from October 7, the first day of Navratri festival.

With the daily caseload of Covid-19 cases showing a slight drop over the past few weeks, the Maharashtra government announced opening of schools from October 4 and religious places of all faiths from October 7, the first day of Navratri festival.

Primary and secondary schools will reopen after almost 18 months after the closure of the schools because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Offline teaching for Classes 5 to 12 in rural areas and 8 to 12 in urban areas will begin in the first phase, with the option of online teaching open for students. (FILE)

Primary and secondary schools will reopen after almost 18 months after the closure of the schools because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Offline teaching for Classes 5 to 12 in rural areas and 8 to 12 in urban areas will begin in the first phase, with the option of online teaching open for students. After consultation with the task forces of doctors, experts from education sector, officials from other department, the school education department announced the decision. The department has issued a detailed SOP for schools, teachers and parents to follow to avoid schools from becoming super spreaders. School education minister Varsha Gaikwad said that chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has given the nod to the proposal, but district collectors and municipal commissioners have been given the final authority to take a call on the basis of the local Covid-19 situation. Local bodies in cities and districts with a high number of cases are likely to defer the decision.

The guidelines issued by the government have recommendation for health clinics on school premises, linking schools with local health centers, roping in local doctors, identifying students with the Covid-19 symptoms, taking them to doctors and taking a call on their attendance in the school. The guidelines have also recommended psychological management of students in the backdrop of the Covid-19 caused stress and repercussions. It has also stressed on need for sensitisation of the teachers over treatment to the students, especially those infected of the virus.

The guidelines also mandate social distancing, proper sanitisation and ventilation in classrooms during working hours. They also talk about the precautions to be taken by students and parents at home. The guidelines have also pressed for the parent-teachers meetings for better awareness about the pandemic, precautions and implementation of the protocol. The government has also suggested use of CSR for health-related expenditure for sanitizers, masks, oximeters and even for fans, etc.

The department had issued an SOP on August 10 after announcing to reopen the schools from August 17. The decision was stayed by Thackeray after task forces raised red flag amid the threat of a potential third wave. The task forces had opposed the plan in the wake of the threat of the third wave, rise in cases in Kerala and instances of shutting down of schools in parts of the world because of the infection among students. The state, while deferring the decision, asked district administrations to aggressively vaccinate teachers and non-teaching staffs.

“We had issued guidelines while opening the schools for Classes 5 to 12 in July and had issued one in August. Additional guidelines are being issued after our detailed discussion with the paediatric task force and health department. The guidelines issued today are comprehensive and what we feel the best in the country,” she said.

The minister said that physical attendance will not be mandatory for students. “The consent of parents for attendance of the ward will be mandatory. Students can opt for online classes through the App, Youtube channels and other facilities made available to them. The schools will have to make the online modules available for students who want to avail the facility. We have also not made uniform compulsory to enable students to follow the protocol related to changing of clothes after returning home,” she said.

Gaikwad said teachers and non-teaching staff are expected to be fully vaccinated and local administrations have been taking due efforts for it. “Bringing back dropped out children because of the crisis arising out of pandemic and lockdown is a task before us. We are chalking out a plan to ensure it,” she said.

Head of state paediatric task force Dr Suhas Prabhu said monitoring the guidelines was important and the state authorities have been asked to do it properly. “We have asked the government to form a committee of stakeholders including people from health, education, local authorities, local representative for the effective monitoring and disseminating the information. It will help in monitoring and resolving the problems faced by the students, parents. We have also recommended norms for steps need to be taken in case of infection among students. We have suggested closing down the school if 10 people (including teachers, staff) or 10% of the total attendees are infected. The measures also have been suggested to take in case of less infections are reported,” he said.

“We cannot keep the schools shut as the virus is not going to go altogether and physical schooling is important for all-round development of children. It is the emotional need of the children as they get to go out, play with friends, mingle around in the peer groups. In the absence of these things, they get upset, depressed and show unusual symptoms or develop bad habits,” he added.

Meanwhile, about the reopening of religious place, Thackeray said that devotees will have to follow Covid-19 protocol and the management of the religious places will have to ensure it. “We prepared for the potential third wave after the number of cases from second wave started subsiding. We will have to be more cautious while opening up activities,” he has said.

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party had staged state-wide protests last month demanding reopening of religious places. Party leaders had also criticised Thackeray government for imposing restrictions only on Hindu festivals

The state has advised devotees above 65 years and below 10 years and those with comorbidities to not visit religious places. The detailed SOP issued by chief secretary Sitaram Kunte, also clarified that religious places in the containment zones announced by the local authorities are not allowed to open. The management of such places has been directed to determine the time slots and the number of people to be allowed per slot to avoid crowding. They have also been told to properly manage the queue and maintain a distance of 6-ft between devotees. The managements have also been mandated with the responsibility of crowd management at parking lots and keeping separate entry and exits of the premises, distribution of prasad, sprinkling of holy water and touching idols, statues and holy books too has been banned.

The entry inside the premises without mask and of the person with Covid-19 symptoms has been prohibited. Managements have been mandated to follow due procedure of isolation and proper sanitisation if any person found infected on the premises.

Schools react

Schools are shocked with the decision. “Reopening of schools especially when children are not even vaccinated makes no sense. We assumed the government will first reopen colleges and then focus in schools, but this new announcement has shocked us all,” said the principal of a state board school in Dadar.

While state board schools have time and again complained about the need for better infrastructure and more teachers in order to implement hybrid teaching model, many non-state board schools have been open to hybrid classrooms. “In international boards, Classes 10, 11 and 12 have board exams and already these students have suffered because of missing school and practical classes for one academic year. Our schools have not more than 25-30 students per class, plus we have the infrastructure to ensure students follow social distancing protocols while in school,” said Kavita Aggarwal, chairperson of Mumbai International Schools’ Association (MISA) and director of D G Khaitan School, Malad.

Parent groups, too, are unhappy. “The government is expecting schools to reopen without any preparation. The government has no data on how many teachers and staff are vaccinated. And what’s worse is that children are not vaccinated. It’s risky to open school knowing that many students will be using public transport to travel,” said Anubha Sahai, president of Indiawide Parents’ Association.

Inputs from Shreya Bhandary