CM Basavaraj Bommai says extra care being taken to protect students from Covid

Bengaluru: Schools are set to reopen from Monday after a long gap, but the authorities are cautious in their approach. Though relieved about being able to restart classes physically, there are deep concerns about students' health. The return of students to schools is expected to be a slow process.

Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister Basawaraj Bommai said on Friday, "Preparations have been made for reopening schools. Necessary directions have been given to government and private schools as to how to bring students, taking consent from parents or guardians, seating arrangements, alternate day shift wise classes, sanitisation, among other things." He said he will be personally visiting schools in Bengaluru and surrounding areas along with Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh on Monday, when they reopen. "We have taken extreme care to ensure classroom learning for students while protecting them from Covid-19. We are taking necessary steps in this direction," he added.

Asked whether children can attend classes without any fear, he said, "Absolutely, our intention behind reopening schools is that children should slowly start coming to schools, for about one-and-half year they have not been to schools, we want them to gradually start attending,"

According to a survey conducted by Deeksha, 60 per cent of parents want to send their children to schools. "We would like the parents to make an informed decision considering what they think is best for their child. At Deeksha, as a policy, we will continue the classes both in the online and offline format. Whatever is being conducted offline will be repeated online as well, in a different time slot." said Dr Sridhar G, Founder of Deeksha.

If a student is unable to attend due to any reason, they will have permission to attend online classes. However, all practicals will be conducted physically as per the guidelines set by the PU board.

Classes will follow all SOPs issued by the government and school timings have been restricted to half. Classes for the core subjects will take place during this period and then students will disperse for lunch and online classes. Apart from strictly enforcing face mask norms, physical distance among students will be ensured by allowing only two to occupy each bench in a class room.School authorities assured that all teachers and other staff have been vaccinated and the data has been uploaded on the departmental portal.

Students, teachers and administrative staff will be subjected to thermal screening at the entrance of schools. Based on the number of students, classes will be conducted in the auditorium or open space to ensure social distancing. There will be an isolation unit in each campus in case any student has Covid symptoms.