In-person classes for students of class 6 to 8 will resume from September 24 once all the schools are done with sanitising their classrooms, officials from the Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC) said on Monday.
However, students attending offline classes at schools will have to produce an undertaking from their parents, stating that none of their family members were suffering from any symptoms of Covid-19 and that they were willingly sending their children to school for studies, an official from JEPC said.
“We will utilise the next couple of days for sanitisation of classrooms and ensure complete safety for children before resuming classes,” said the State Coordinator for Quality Education, Abhinav Kumar. “All the students will have to produce an undertaking from their parents and adhere to Covid protocol,” he added.
Even though students will get to attend in-person classes from Friday, Midday Meal (MDM) will remain suspended for the time being. The eligible students will, however, be provided ration during this period.
The JEPC has also decided to keep all air conditioners switched off in schools during classes and allow only one student to sit on a desk at a time. Teams from the district administration have also been instructed to conduct regular Covid tests at schools for early identification of any student suffering from the disease, officials said.
Students attending offline classes at schools will also have to undergo thermal scanning every day and those suffering from any illness would be instructed to stay at home.
Students will have the option to continue online classes depending on what their parents decide. Some private schools have also held parents-teacher meetings recently and asked parents to fill up a questionnaire to see if they were willing to send their children to school for offline classes and exams.
While the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) allowed resumption of in-person classes for students of class 6 to 8 in its latest meeting chaired by chief minister Hemant Soren on September 14, it did not announce specific dates on which classes would resume for these students.
In-person classes for students of class 9 to 12 resumed in August, but a negligible number of students have been regularly attending offline classes at schools, sources said. Many parents preferred online education over in-person classes for their children amid the fear of a possible third wave of Covid-19, a teacher from a renowned private school in Ranchi said, requesting anonymity.