Assam Government Releases SOPs for resuming of schools for Class 9 to 12 students

On Wednesday, the Assam Government released the Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs for students from Classes 9 to 12 for whom classes are set to resume in schools from 21st September 2020 onwards. The SOPs for re-opening of schools have been designed keeping in mind of the COVID-19 protocols. The schools in the state have been closed for six months since 15th March 2020 owing to the pandemic. Although the teaching was continued online, several students have not been able to access it due to a number of constraints.

As per the order issued by the Principal Secretary, B Kalyan Chakravarty, to the state secondary education department, the SOP for re-opening of schools from Classes 9 to 12 will come into effect from 21st September 2020 and be operative for 15 subsequent days. After 15 days and observing the situation from 21st September the SOP will be modified accordingly. Chakravarty also said that after the re-opening of institutions, regular conferences will be held with Deputy Commissioners and the students’ data will be carefully monitored given this is the first major step towards resuming education fully after the outbreak of COVID-19.

According to the present guidelines issued by the state secondary education department, while students from Classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 will come to schools and colleges, other classes will remain suspended. The SOPs state that for students of Classes 9 and 11, classes will be conducted on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while classes for Students of 10th and 12th will be conducted on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Additionally the SOPs state that each class will be divided into two batches (unless the number of students in a particular class is 20 or less). Classes for the first batch of students will be conducted from 9AM to 12 PM while for the second batch, classes will be held from 1 PM to 4 PM. Moreover, school authorities are required to ensure that the 1st batch of students are sent home before the commencement of classes for the second batch.

The SOPs also mention that students will come to school only if their parents do not have any objection in this regard and an undertaking or confirmation in this regard must be submitted by the students at their respective schools. Given the pandemic situation, state the SOPs, the total number of teaching, as well as non-teaching staff in schools, is to be restricted to 50%.

The schools with Classes from 9 to 12 have also been asked to ensure the continuation of distance/online learning, despite re-opening. Besides, arrangements for contactless attendance and ensuring of social distancing wherever feasible is also advocated in the SOPs.