Patna: School authorities in Bihar have asked students to attend classes on the basis of their odd and even roll numbers. The instruction was issued soon after the education department in the state ordered schools to commence classes at 50 per cent attendance.
The state education department has announced to reopen all schools and coaching institutes from January 4 next year. In the first phase, upper sections (from Grade Nine to 12) will reopen while the junior sections will be allowed to function after a proper review a fortnight later. All schools in the state are closed for the past nine months soon after a nationwide lockdown was enforced in view of COVID-19 outbreak.
“The classes will commence with 50 per cent strength of students and the schools will have to strictly follow the COVID-19 protocol,” Bihar education secretary Sanjay Kumar told the media on Friday.
The secretary said the students would have to take permission from their parents before attending schools and they would also have to submit a self-declaration form detailing their travel history and medical condition.
Physical distancing
According to the advisory issued by the education department, the physical distancing of at least six feet should be followed in the classrooms, daily sanitization of school campus and touch points are must, assembly/morning/cultural events will remain banned, all school buses should be sanitized twice a day and all window panes of the buses should be kept opened.
The authorities have also banned students from eating foods from vendors outside the schools, apart from sharing facemasks, water bottles, pens, pencils, notebooks and paper to avoid coming in contact with colleagues infected with coronavirus.
Private School and Children Welfare Association’s president Shamael Ahmed welcomed the government’s move to open schools but also appealed to the government to allow classes from Grade eight onwards to help the school owners who have run into huge financial loss due to long closure of schools.