We all know owning to the covid-19 pandemic, the schools and colleges across the country had been shutdown to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus disease. But now under the unlock 5.0, the Department of School Education and Literacy and the Ministry of Education has allowed for reopening of schools. So, the Ministry of Education in India has issued guidelines for reopening of schools outside containment zones.

The Union Cabinet Minister for Education Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank posted a tweet regarding the same on his official Twitter account in which he stated that states and Union Territories will have to prepare their own Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding health, hygiene and safety and learning and also maintaining social distancing.

The schools will have to follow these guidelines so that despite their opening the spread of the disease could be controlled and students remain safe from the pandemic.

Guidelines for re-opening of Schools and Coaching Institutions

1. The students who cannot come to the school or who prefer to attend online will be given the option of online/distance learning and also online learning will be encouraged by schools.
2. Only those students who have written consent of parents will be allowed to attend schools/institutions and attendance will be not be enforced.
3. Schools which are allowed to open to mandatory follow the SOP issued by Education Department of States/UTs.

The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs):

1. All the students and staff will be required to wear a face cover/mask and continue wearing while in class, eating in the mess, working in the laboratories or in libraries.
2. Sanitisation like hand washing and respiratory hygiene need to be maintained by all present in school premises.
3. Teachers and students will have to follow the social distancing norms which include maintaining a physical distancing of 6 feet.
4. The distance of 6 feet will also be kept in the seating arrangement. 
5. The schools will also be required to take precautions while preparing and serving mid-day meals.
6. Signages related to social distancing and safety protocols should be placed at adequate places in school premises.
7. Awareness should be created among students, parents, teachers and community members on COVID-19 related challenges and what they should do in such cases on the basis of guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
8. Schools should have the facility of medical help for students. For this they should make available trained health care attendant/nurse/doctor and counsellor to take care of physical and mental health of the students.  Regular health check-ups should also be arranged for the students and teachers.
9. Schools should collect information from students, parents and teachers regarding their health status.  Also information from local administration about the State and district helplines and the nearest COVID Centre and other contact details for dealing with an emergency should also be collected.
10. Schools should implement flexible attendance and sick leave policies so that students and staff can stay at home if they feel sick.
11. There should be focus on prioritizing the needs of most vulnerable students like homeless/migrated students or students with disabilities, and those who have been directly affected by Covid-19.

Bright Tutee Believes That Schools Should Adhere to the Guidelines

Being one of the most trusted online learning platform in India, Bright Tutee believes that these guidelines are a welcoming step in the direction of preventing spread of Covid-19 in India. If all the schools will strictly follow these guidelines it would be easier to resume classes in safe environment for students. Moreover, the teachers and students and all the staff will remain safe from the deadly disease.

The students who will not be able to attend the school can learn from online courses of Bright Tutee. The courses include online video lessons, assignments, MCQs in the form of online tests and a lot more.

In addition you get a special exam preparation kit that comprises all the unsolved and solved previous years’ question papers, sample papers, and model test papers. The practice from all these papers will make you familiar with exam pattern and marking scheme. You will also get to know the expected questions and thus will be able to score more marks.

The courses are available for the durations of 3 months, 6 months and 1 year and the best thing is that these are very affordable and can be purchased by even those students who come from poor families.

You can also download the Bright Tutee app from Google play store and study with it. Thus with Bright Tutee you get the best possible education and that too from the comfort and safety of your home.