Schools in Kerala To Reopen in Staggered Manner From 1 Nov: Pinarayi Vijayan

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday, 22 September, said that schools in the state would reopen from 1 November, starting with classes 1 to 7, 10 and 12, with the remaining classes commencing from 15 November, PTI reported.

Schools in Kerala have remained closed for a year and a half due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Kerala remains one of the worst affected states in the country, with 19,675 out of 31,923 new cases reported on Wednesday coming from Kerala alone. The state also reported 142 deaths.

Vijayan said preparations for the reopening of the schools are in full swing. He also said that the health and education ministers of the state would be convening a high-level meeting on Thursday, 23 September, after which a draft plan of action would be prepared and later discussed with other departments before finalising it.

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The CM said that the parent-teacher associations and other organisations would be consulted while making arrangements at the state and district level, aiming to allay the concerns and fears of students and parents.

He said that the state police have also been involved in the plan to ensure the safety of students during travel to and from schools and colleges.

The police will regulate the traffic outside educational institutions, ensure there is no improper or illegal parking of vehicles and that people do not assemble in front of schools unnecessarily, he further said.

Vijayan said that the schools had been asked to repair their buses and other vehicles, reported The Times of India. “This will be ensured at police station level by the SHO [Station House Officer] who will contact school authorities. The staff of school vehicles will also be trained in Covid protocols,” he said.

The SHOs would also provide special training to all the drivers and conductors of school vehicles on following safety precautions while ferrying children. They would also be trained about maintaining social distance, using sanitisers and wearing masks properly, he added.

(With inputs from PTI and The Times of India.)

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