Govt issues fresh SOP for schools in COVID-prone dists; here are the details

GUWAHATI: The Assam education department today issued fresh standard operating procedure (SOP) for educational institutions, restricting number of students in each class to 50 per cent in districts where there are above 100 active COVID-19 positive cases.

The guidelines effective from today, signed by commissioner and secretary for elementary/secondary and higher education department Preetom Saikia, have asked the school and higher educational institutions to encourage online education as far as possible.

According to the SOP, in a class with 50 students, those bearing Roll No 1 to 25 will attend schools on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while those with Roll No 26 to 50, will attend schools on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. In case of students more or less than 50 in a particular class, the head of the institution would take a call on dividing the students.

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At present, Kamrup (Metro) with 482 active cases, Dibrugarh (109) and Kamrup (106) fall under the purview of the SOP.

The SOP also recommends staggering of arrival and departure time for students, up to a maximum of three classes at a time, so that large of students do not gather at the same point at any time.

Further, the SOP restricts morning assemblies and meetings (both formal and informal) in school premises.

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The SOP will be applicable in case of Class VI and above and are effective till May 8 or further orders. The education department has already closed down primary schools up to Class V and has advised online teaching for the students to continue uninterrupted education.

Apart from recommending frequent sanitisation of the education institution premises, particularly places of common use, the SOP also restricts entry of any teacher, student or employee’s entry with  any symptom of COVID-19.

All educational institutions will have to mandatorily maintain temperature monitoring system and hand sanitisation facilities at the entrances.

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The SOP also advises schools to educate students about the COVID protocols and etiquettes.

In case of colleges and universities too, the same SOP would apply, the notification said.

The deputy commissioners of the districts concerned will monitor adherence to the SOP.