Based on directives issued by the state government, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has permitted offline teaching for students in classes VIII to XII at all schools within the limits of the civic body, the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) and the Kirkee Cantonment Board (KCB), provided the institutions obtain consent from parents. Last year, the PMC had shut all schools after the Covid-19 outbreak. Although it had briefly allowed schools to reopen for classes for IX to XII in January this year and classes V to VIII in February, the second wave of the pandemic put a stop to this. In the fresh order, Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar said schools can start classroom teaching for classes VIII to XII from Monday by following the guidelines and standard operating procedures (SoPs). He added that schools will have to get consent from parents before students can start attending classes. The schools have to instruct teaching and non-teaching staff to mandatorily undergo RT-PCR testing in the 48 hours prior to reopening. They will also need to take the test every 15 days even if fully vaccinated. Implementation of the SOPs issued by the state government will be mandatory for schools. The management should also ensure availability of thermal guns, pulse oximeters, disinfectant, soap and water. School vehicles have to be sanitised twice a day while classrooms and toilets should be sanitised frequently. Seating arrangements in classrooms and the staffroom should adhere to norms of social distancing. Only one student can be seated per bench. Schools will also have to put up posters and stickers to raise awareness on the need for social distancing and mark positions for students to stand at a safe distance. Entry and exit points should be kept separate to ensure safe distancing. - Stay updated with the latest Pune news. Follow Express Pune on Twitter here and on Facebook here. You can also join our Express Pune Telegram channel here.
