Updated: October 6, 2020 3:12:30 pm
A government school reopens in Chandigarh on September 21, 2020 (Express photo: Kamleshwar Singh)
Schools across the country have been closed since mid-March, even before the coronavirus lockdown was imposed. On Monday (October 5), the Ministry of Education guidelines issued for its reopening.
When will the schools reopen?
The union government has allowed schools to reopen in phases after October 15. However, the individual states will decide the actual time and manner of reopening.
This means that what students actually experience will vary depending on where they go to school.
For example, Delhi has decided not to bring students back until the end of the month, despite the go-ahead from the union government. Uttar Pradesh, on the other hand, has announced a gradual reopening, but has left the final decision to the districts, based on the local Covid-19 situation.
So do the younger children return to the classroom first or the older ones?
This has also been left to the discretion of the state governments.
According to senior officials from the Education Ministry, the union government had already indicated its preference last month, when the Interior Ministry allowed older students in classes 9 to 12 to voluntarily meet with their teachers in schools.
However, if a state decides to bring the youngest students back first, the Education Ministry will not interfere, a senior official told The Indian Express.
What is the union government’s position on attendance?
The Ministries of Education and Home have stated categorically that students will not be required to attend classes at school.
“Attendance must not be enforced, and must depend entirely on parental consent,” state the Ministry guidelines for reopening. Those who choose not to go back to school can attend classes online. For schools lacking an ICT-enabled environment, teachers are expected to interact with students and parents by phone on “continuous learning in class and follow up with students using interview mode.”
Also in Explained | Schools in Delhi won’t open before October 31, here’s why
What would school life be like in the middle of the pandemic?
Even if parents decide to send their children to school, they will not go every day. Attendance can be rotating, on alternate days or every other day.
On days a student is home, they will be asked to study the chapters that are “essential but conceptually easier to understand.”
In case of high enrollment numbers, schools can explore the possibility of running in two shifts “reducing the length of school hours per shift, so that the school can manage with the same group of teachers in the general school hours.”
At school, the wearing of masks will be mandatory for students, teachers and staff. All students will be required to follow a strict hand hygiene routine and will sit six feet apart in classrooms.
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Sharing notebooks, food, and toys among students will be prohibited. Classes will be held outdoors on days when the weather is nice.
If possible, school bags will be discouraged for students in lower primary classes (I to V) and all necessary learning materials can be kept in the classroom.
To the extent possible, parents will be encouraged to use their personal transportation to drop off children at school. Elderly teachers and staff, or those living in containment zones, will not be allowed in.
And the evaluations?
According to Ministry of Education guidelines, for at least two to three weeks after reopening, schools will not conduct any evaluations. Even when they do, pen and paper text formatting will be discouraged for students in all grades to “ensure the emotional well-being of students.”
“Assessments in the form of role plays, choreography, class quizzes, puzzles and games, design of brochures, presentations, diaries, portfolios, etc., may be preferable to routine tests with pencil paper,” they state the guidelines of the Ministry of Education.
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