Hundreds of children returned to schools in Hassan on Friday after more than nine months of break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The teachers and other staff members had made arrangements in tune with the guidelines from the State government to welcome students.
As the students entered the school premises, they were made to walk keeping six-foot distance with classmates. Teachers armed with a thermal scanner recorded the body temperature before letting them in. D.H. Chandre Gowda, Headmaster of Government High School at Haralahalli near Hassan, said, “If any student has COVID-19 symptoms, we will ask him or her to sit in a separate room and inform the doctors. They will come and check the health in the school itself”. The schools have been told to keep one room empty to isolate students with symptoms.
The students were also thrilled to visit the school after so many days. Ajay, a student in Haralahalli, told The Hindu that all these days he had not met his friends. “I am genuinely happy to return to school to meet my friends”, he said. Vandana, another student in the same school, said she attended online classes all these days and visiting the school was a refreshing moment for her.
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The students were made to sit maintaining social distance in the classroom. In some schools, the students were seen gathering ignoring the COVID-19 guidelines.
Senior officers including Hassan Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer D. Bharati visited some schools on the day. During her visit to Government PU College for Boys in the city, she noticed that the Headmaster of the High School section had not turned up even at 10.30 a.m. She asked the Deputy Director of Public Instructions to serve a notice to the Headmaster. Later speaking to presspersons, the ZP CEO said, “The HM had not turned up thinking that the school would start at 11.30 a.m. as it had been in the institute, as classrooms had to be shared between the PU section and high school wing. However, we had told them to convene the classes at 10.30 a.m. from today”.
Prakash K.S., DDPI, and other officers of the Education Department went around the schools that opened on the day. The midday meal workers have been instructed to provide students with boiled water. All schools have been provided with the thermal scanner and hand sanitizer kits. The students have been asked to attend classes wearing masks.
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