The Education Department of Rajasthan has issued SOP for the reopening of schools in the state. As per the SOP, the schools will run in 2 shifts for classes 9th to 12th. First set of students of class 9th to 11th will attend school from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. while the second set of the same class shall attend the school from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. The first set of students of class 10th and 12th will be coming to school at 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., while the second batch will be coming to school from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

A half an hour gap has been kept in their lunch hours as well. This system will help in following social distancing norms. The students will sit in fully ventilated classes. Every student must bring along a written consent from the parents permitting them to attend school. There will be no assembly meetings and sports activities are also banned. Students will be required to follow the mandates strictly. Online classes would continue for students who are not attending schools.

Apart from this, the Union Health Ministry has also asked all states to vaccinate all school teachers on priority. The schools teachers and the other working staff are not yet fully vaccinated and this is one major concern. The vaccination for the schools teachers must complete before 5th September.

The reopening of schools is still a matter of concern as the children are not yet vaccinated. If the 3rd phase proves to be disastrous, the situations are likely to go out of control. A good and quick supply of the vaccines and administering the vaccines at the earliest are extremely important for safety.

(media reports)