With the State government allowing reopening of schools for students of Classes X and XII on Friday, the Department of Public Instruction has made elaborate arrangements to conduct classes in adherence to COVID-19 advisory.
There are 901 government higher primary schools and 425 government high schools in Dharwad district apart from private and unaided schools which are all set to reopen on Friday in the wake of the government decision. Along with running classes for SSLC and II PU students, the government has also decided to start Vidyagama programme for the Classes VI to IX.
Deputy Director of Public Instruction Mohankumar Hanchate has said that the guidelines given by the Health Department were being followed strictly and instructions have been given to government, private aided and unaided schools. The heads of the educational institutions have been asked to adhere to COVID-19 advisory, he said.
Mr. Hanchate said that with the help of local civic bodies and Health Department, all classrooms, libraries, prayer halls, auditoriums and toilets in government schools have been sanitised and the sanitisation process would be carried out every day before school hours.
While students would be subjected to thermal screening every day, they would be given hand sanitisers and asked to use them frequently. This apart, teachers above the age of 50 have been asked to wear face shields while conducting classes, he said.
As a precautionary measure, isolation rooms have also been set up in every school to accommodate students who develop fever and cold and cough during classes. Meanwhile, sale of junk food, fruits and all other kinds of eatables has been banned and no outsiders would be allowed to enter school premises during school hours, Mr. Hanchate said.
He said that in normal classrooms 15 students would be accommodated and in bigger ones up to 20 students could be accommodated. Mr. Hanchate said that there was no need for parents and students to panic as all required steps to check the spread of the infection during school hours had been taken.
Timetable
The Department of Public Instruction has issued different time-table for various classes.
As per the timetable, children of Classes I, II and III will attend sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., while those of Classes IV and V will have sessions from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday and from 8.30 am to 11.15 am on Saturday. This will come in force on January 14.
Similarly, students of Class VI will attend sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., while those in Class VII will attend sessions on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
For Class VIII student, sessions will be held on Tuesday and Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. and for students of Class IX, sessions will be held on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Students of SSLC will have classes from 10 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. on all week days.
In the Pre University section, there are 27 government, 38 private aided and 111 unaided colleges in the district and around 20,000 students are studying in II PU. Deputy Director of PU Education K. Chidambar said that all requisite measures had been taken as per COVID-19 advisory.
CEO visit
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of Dharwad Zilla Panchayat B. Susheela visited various schools and colleges in urban and rural areas on Thursday to inspect the preparedness for reopening.
