Updated: Dec 25, 2020, 16:20 IST | By Abhay Khairnar, Hindustan Times Pune

Student sitting on alternate benches as a precaution during pandemic, as schools reopened in rural Pune after 7 months during Covid-19 pandemic in Sangli, India, on Monday, November 23, 2020. (HT file PHOTO)

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Thursday issued fresh orders allowing private and public schools in city area to reopen from January 4 for class 9 to 12. The earlier order had barred schools from reopening till January in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pune municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar issued the orders allowing schools as well as school bus service to resume operations in the city from January 4. According to the order, students in class 9-12 will have to attend the classes in person.

“As per the state education and sports department instructions, classes for students in 9-12 will be open and all the standard operating procedures will be followed,” said Kumar. The order also prescribed certain guidelines such as thermal scanners and oxymetres at schools premises, RT-PCR tests for teachers and non-teaching staff, one student on each bench to maintain social distancing. Schools have also been advised to maintain cleanliness of school buses repeatedly and taking written permission of parents for sending their kids by educational institutions.

Earlier, the school department of the Pune civic body had carried out basic preparation of sanitising the school premises considering that schools may reopen from December 14. However, the PMC received negative response from various private schools’ administration and parents on restarting classes and postponed the decision.

GUIDELINES

– Keep buses clean

– One student on each bench

-Keep toilets clean and sanitise it repeatedly

– Classrooms should not be closed. Windows and doors should kept open

-For the preparation of school reopening, teachers and non-teaching staff should remain present in the school from December 28

(This article has not been edited by Campus Fortify staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)