15 students in a class, only vaccinated staff in school – Times of India

These are some of the measures schools in Nashik city and rural areas have to follow to reopen physical classes from October 4.

They are part of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) jointly issued by the education departments of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Nashik rural for reopening schools.
While in rural areas, the schools from Class 5 – 7 are reopening, in the urban areas, the schools for only classes 8 – 12 are reopening. In rural areas, the schools for classes 8 – 12 are already functioning.

Education officer (secondary) of zilla parishad Pushpavati Patil and administrative officer of NMC Sunil Dhangar have instructed the school authorities to give details of schools, its area, the number of students and contact numbers of the nearest health centres. The officer has also instructed the school authorities to keep their contact numbers so that the help from the health centres can be taken in case of an extreme emergency.

The SOPs further have pointed out that authorities should ensure there is no overcrowding in any of the schools by any chance and at the same time, the parents must duly sign and give their consent letter to the school administration before the schools begin.

Each class can have at the most 15 students, with one student on one bench. If the number is more, additional classrooms may be taken. But if the classrooms are not available, then the schools may be conducted in two sessions – each in forenoon and the afternoon period.

The officer also pointed out that the offline schools will deal with core subjects like Maths, Science and English on priority. Hence, only teaching and non-teaching staff who are completely vaccinated should be allowed to come in contact with the students.

The schools authorities have also been asked to keep a close watch on the health of the students, their uneasiness and time taken to adapt to the new system.

The department has asked the school authorities to carry out the sanitisation of schools and install facilities for regular hand wash facilities for the students. There are 223 schools for Class 8 to 12 in Nashik city that have 1.10 lakh students.