An expert committee representing the State chapters of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) and Indian Medical Association (IMA) recommended that classroom sessions in schools and colleges in the new academic year will have to be postponed for at least a few months and distance learning be implemented in the interim following the COVID-19 situation.
The ‘Guidelines for School Reopening in 2020’ drafted by the committee pointed out that essential public exams could be held while observing strict norms of social distancing.
On when regular classroom sessions could be resumed, Dr. M. Narayanan, president of IAP Kerala and convener of the committee, told The Hindu on Wednesday that it would depend on several factors that might happen in the future. “Once the uncertainty about community spread clears in the coming months, new treatments arrive, or the virus dies a natural death, these decisions can be reconsidered. At this point, we are in the middle of an unprecedented global crisis where saving lives is the highest priority and long-term predictions are impossible,” he said, adding as of now the COVID-19 situation required that the school sessions be postponed.
“If schools are reopened too soon, the virus will be able to travel from one household. A few of these children will be carrying the virus but without symptoms. In a classroom, children sit together over a period of several hours. The classroom effectively becomes a convenient hub for the virus to penetrate deep into the community. From the individual homes of students, it will then spread to offices, markets and other homes,” said Dr S.S. Kamath, chairman of the committee and former national president of IAP.
The guidelines suggested that even after the schools reopened, precautionary measures should be well in place for a while. Each grade and section (e.g. Standard 8P, 8Q etc.) must be divided into two batches (A batch and B batches) consisting of a maximum of 20-25 children per batch before reopening. A gap of at least one metre would have to be maintained in classrooms.
Until further guidelines, classes would have to be conducted from Monday to Friday only on shift basis. (A Batch: Morning shift 8 a.m. to 12.00 noon; B batch: Noon shift 12.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.) If Saturday classes were necessary, they would have to be held online, the committee said.
Physical distancing would have to be ensured during labs, PT periods, and entry/exit from classroom and school. Different interval/break time would have to be made for each class (e.g. Grade 8-10 at 10.15 a.m., Grade 9-10 at 10:45 a.m.), it said.
Students from different classes should be prevented from mingling with one another. Children should be permitted to carry mid-day meals to their homes. Schools must implement physical distancing protocols recommended by the Health Department in school buses, according to the guidelines.
