Schools have been asked to ensure physical distancing, regular disinfection; The chiefs say they are dividing the students into smaller batches, each taught in a different room.
With growing concerns about the spread of the new Omicron version of the novel coronavirus, city schools, too, are stepping up security measures on campus for senior students who continue to attend classes.
on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu government said That Class 9 students, too, will attend online classes in addition to lower classes, and that only students of classes 10 to 12 will be on campus for individual classes as they have their board exams later this year. Earlier, it had said that students of classes 1-8 will take online classes only.
“We are focusing on getting the senior students vaccinated and have also asked schools to ensure that they follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the safety of students on campus. Notably, we have asked schools to ensure that physical distancing is maintained by students during the interval between classes, and toilets as well as other common areas are cleaned and disinfected regularly,” s. Mars, Chief Educational Officer, Chennai said.
Schools have also been asked to pay attention to teachers who may have symptoms or are on long leave, and encourage them to isolate and not report on duty.
Schools that have large numbers of senior students attending classes on campus have taken additional measures. Zion Group of Schools correspondent N. Vijayan said they are using all the vacant classrooms on campus to accommodate their senior students in small batches. “We have around 20 sections for each senior class and the students are divided into batches of 20 students. Even for the lunch break, students are being allowed to eat outside only in small batches and teachers are also encouraged to sit in open spaces on campus instead of in staff rooms,” he said.
For state board students, the Directorate of Government Examinations had announced in December that revision exams for class 10 and 12 would begin from January 19.
“Keeping in mind the safety measures, we are working on completing the parts and ensuring that the students are ready to take the public exams as and when they are scheduled. These revision exams are the first major exams these students will take as there was no half-yearly and quarterly exams in this academic year,” said the principal of a government school in Chennai. He said that both students and teachers are constantly being made aware about it. were wearing masks, and they were also conducting regular temperature checks.
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