Maharashtra education department releases revised SOPs for school reopening

Mandatory Covid-19 tests for staff, one student per bench in a class and avoiding extracurricular activities like sports, gatherings, are part of the revised standard

Mandatory Covid-19 tests for staff, one student per bench in a class and avoiding extracurricular activities like sports, gatherings, are part of the revised standard operating procedures (SOPs) for schools released by the state education department on Tuesday.

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On November 7, state education minister Varsha Gaikwad announced that the government will start schools for Classes 9 to 12 from November 23. The decision subsequently got clearance from the state government, and a revised set of SOPs for school reopening was released on Tuesday.

As per SOPs parents will have to sign a written consent before students attend school. Similarly, students can study from their homes with the consent of their parents and the guidelines for such a model will be released by the department shortly. State education minister Varsha Gaikwad had earlier said online learning will continue for students who wish to stay at home and study.

The SOPs have retained some key precautions that need to be taken by schools, parents and local administration to ensure the safety of school staff and children once schools reopen. Sanitising school premises, daily temperature checks, conducting a mix of online and offline learning, making small groups for the practicals are some of the other guidelines issued in the SOPs.

Parents said considering the fear of the infection, many might opt for online learning even after schools reopen. “We will first wait for the vaccine to come because we cannot take risk of sending children to school. We will continue with online learning,” said Anu Sinha, a parent from Thane.