Madhya Pradesh issues SOPs for reopening schools
Madhya Pradesh has issued the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) with respect to COVID-19 pandemic for reopening schools from Classes 9 to 12 after a gap of more than nine months. All the state-owned schools will reopen for Classes 10 and 12 from December 18 onward while the state government has left it to the school authorities to decide whether or not to arrange physical sessions for Classes 9 and 11. School Education Minister Inder Singh Parmar said that the decision to reopen schools for Class 10 and 12 students has been taken keeping in view the upcoming board examinations 2020.
The school education department of Madhya Pradesh has issued the following protocols to conduct in-person classes-
Students will have to get written permission from their parents to attend the classes which will be applicable for the entire academic year.
All the teaching and non-teaching staff will have to attend the school regularly.
Group activities including morning assembly, cultural or sports activities and swimming pool will be prohibited.
The school authorities have to maintain social distancing at all times by ensuring that students do not assemble together even during their breaks.
Social distancing will have to be maintained even inside the school transport which must be sanitised at regular intervals.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh schools will continue to remain closed for Classes 1 to 8 till March 31 and the students will be promoted on the basis of class projects.
The state-owned colleges in Madhya Pradesh will reopen for science students from January 1 with 505 attendance.
Haryana, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, and rural areas of Nagpur have also reopened the schools after issuing SOPs for COVID-19. Most of the schools are conducting in-person practical classes while the theory classes will continue to be online.