Dehradun: Schools in Uttarakhand will reopen for students of classes X and XII on November 1.
School managements have drawn up plans to ensure strict adherence to COVID-19 protocol. Attendance in classes has been set at 50 per cent per day.
Students will be allowed to enter the school premises after thermal screening. There will be no prayer assemblies and sports activities for the time being.
“While we will make sure that the SOPs are followed, I must say that the schools should not be held responsible if a student catches the virus,” Hindustan Times quoted Chairman of Doon International School D S Mann as saying.
Parents have been hesitant in sending their wards to school.
“Children have spent half of the session attending online classes. There is no harm in letting them continue their studies in this manner for the rest of the session,” said Asha Rawat, a resident of Nehru colony.
“My daughter studies in class XII and used to go to school on a bicycle. It is better that she studies at home rather than venturing out and taking the risk (of catching COVID-19),” she added.
Uttarakhand government spokesperson and cabinet minister Madan Kaushik has said that all precautions will be followed by school authorities keeping students’ welfare in mind. They include safe transportation in sanitized buses with only 50 per cent occupancy, regular sanitization of the premises, limiting attendance to 50 per cent of capacity and hand sanitization from time to time.