Schools to reopen in Odisha from Jan 8, know the details of SOP for reopening of schools

Bhubaneswar, Jan 2: The Odisha government today decided to reopen the schools from January 8 and issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for reopening of schools. Here is the details of SOP      General guidelines on school opening and attendance of teacher, students and staff • Only schools outside the containment zones shall be allowed to open. Further, students, teachers and employees living in containment zones will not be allowed to attend the school. Students, teachers and employees shall also be advised not to visit areas falling within containment zones. Due to the dynamic nature of the situation, these decisions will be taken by the District Collector. District Collector will also direct the relevant schools to immediately shut down in case their zone is declared as a containment zone. • Prior to resumption of activities, all work areas including furniture, libraries, laboratories, storage places, water tanks, kitchen, washrooms/toilets, and other areas of common use shall be sanitizedwith particular attention to frequently touched surfaces. • Schools may not reopen without 100% access to potable drinking water and adequate functional toilets for all students. Any school without access to the above must first make these arrangements before reopening. • Hostel facilities are not to be opened at this point of time. Detailed SOP for Hostel operations will be issued when Hostel reopening is deemed safe. • School provided transportation should also be discouraged to reduce risk. Parents must ensure they take responsibility of the child's commute to school. Where plying, transport facilitiesmay run at maximum of 50% capacity with adequate sanitization before picking up and after dropping students.  • High risk staff members with severe ailments or underlying conditions must take extra precaution. • No student should be coerced to come to school. Only those parents and students who feel comfortable attending school should do so. Provisions to be made inside schools • For ensuring social distancing and queue management inside and at the entrance of the premises, specific markings on the floor/ground with a gap of 6 feet should be made.  • Inside classrooms students should be made to sit at safe distances/alternate desks. Fixed seating should be ensured. A particular seat/space should be earmarked for each student (for example: based on roll number) so that there is limited exposure to other students' physical spaces  • Similarly, physical distancing shall also be maintained in staff rooms (by earmarking seats for teachers at an adequate distance), and other common areas (mess. libraries, cafeterias. etc ) with relevant markings as required.  • If available temporary space or outdoor spaces (in case of pleasant weather) may be utilized for conducting classes, keeping in view the safety and security of the children and physical distance protocols  • There must be adequate soap (solid/liquid) and running water in all washrooms and toilets Hand sanitizers etc. for the teachers, students, and staff must be available mandatorily in each classroom. Students should be encouraged to sanitize their hands when entering and leaving classrooms and toilets. • Any staff entrusted with cleaning/sweeping duties must be informed and trained about the cleaning/sanitization processes as well as general norms for waste management and disposal.  • The school should display state helpline numbers and also numbers of local health authorities etc. to teachers/students/employees to contact in case of any emergency. Other posters related to the preventive measures about COVID-19 must also be displayed. • A separate isolation room has to be marked in the school and kept ready. This room may be used in case any student or staff develops Covid symptoms.  • The Composite School Grant under SSA may be used for purchase of all relevant cleaning and sanitization material.