Bhubaneswar: After a long wait of a little over nine months, schools and colleges for class X and XII students across Odisha finally reopened Friday. However, all the educational institutions are following strict social distancing and other guidelines implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Educational institutions in Odisha were closed down in mid-March last year due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
Teachers of the schools welcomed their students welcomed back the students following COVID-19 protocols including like thermal screening, hand sanitising, wearing of masks and social distancing in classrooms.
At some places rangolis were created to welcome the students while at other institutions flowers were presented.
As per the Odisha government’s SOP maximum of 25 students has been allowed to attend one class and each student has been allotted a specific seat.
The students of standards X and XII will be given 100 days of classroom teaching before they appear in the annual examinations in May, an official said. He informed that classes will be held Saturdays and Sundays too.
Classes for students of standard X will be held from January 8 to April 26, while for students of standard XII from January 8 to April 28, a notification issued by the School and Mass Education Department said.
Practical exams for standard X students will be held from April 27 to May 2 and for standard XII students from April 29 to May 14, it said.
The annual board exams of Class X students will be from May 3 to 15, while the Council of Higher Secondary Education will hold exams for Class XII students from May 15 to June 11.
In case a student shows COVID-19 symptoms, he/she will be quarantined in the isolation room of the school. The affected student will then be taken to a local hospital for treatment. All classrooms will be sanitised every day after the closure of the school.
Prior to reopening of schools, all work areas including furniture, libraries, storage places, water tanks, toilets and other common areas have been sanitised. Schools without 100% access to potable drinking water and adequate toilets have not been allowed to reopen.
Only the schools outside containment zones have been allowed to reopen. Students, teachers, employees living in containment zones will not be allowed to attend. Students, teachers, employees have been advised not to visit the areas falling within containment zones. District Collectors will direct the relevant schools to immediately shut down in case a zone is declared as a containment area.
PNN
