Important SOPs, Guidelines For School Reopening
To ensure safe return of students to school campuses across the state, the government has prescribed some important guidelines and standard operating procedures that are to be followed by teachers, students and school administrators.
Important SOPs, Guidelines For School Reopening
The attendance of students in the school will not be mandatory, confirmed the Minister and the students will have to get written consent from parents to attend the offline classes in schools and colleges. Also, the educational institutions' heads will have to ensure and follow all the SOPs issued by the centre and the state for schools reopening.
  • School Campuses to be sanitizer
  • Students, Teachers and Non-teaching staff members to undergo thermal scanning before entering the campus
  • Everyone entering school campus will have to carry hand sanitizers and masks
  • Social distancing norms to be followed on campus, both in classroom as well as outside
  • School Canteens to remain closed, students to carry water, snacks, or lunches from home.
The attendance of students in the school will not be mandatory, confirmed the Minister and the students will have to get written consent from parents to attend the offline classes in schools and colleges. Also, the educational institutions' heads will have to ensure and follow all the SOPs issued by the centre and the state for schools reopening.

The state government had reopened classes for students of grades 10 and 12 on January 11 itself in view of the impending board exams. Later on February 1, schools were reopened for students of classes 9 and 11. The final year classes of undergraduate and post-graduate students resumed for January 11, while the first-year college classes resumed from February 8. 

The state government had earlier revoked its decision to reopen the educational institutions from November 23 in the wake of rising coronavirus cases post Diwali. No decision so far has been taken on the resumption of classes for students of grade 1 to 5. The percentage of students of grades 9 to 12 attending classes have gradually increased from 40 per cent to 70 per cent. 

The Ministry of Home Affairs vide Order no. 40-3/2020-DM-I (A) dated 30th
September, 2020 , has issued guidelines for re-opening, following lockdown
measures put in place for containment of COVID-19 in the country under the
under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Among the activities permitted
outside the Containment Zones is the re-opening of schools and coaching
institutions , after 15th October, 2020, in a graded manner , for which the
State/UT Government may take a decision in consultation with the
respective school/institution management, based on their assessment of the
situation and subject to the following conditions:
  • a. Online/distance learning shall continue to be the preferred mode of
  • teaching and shall be encouraged
  • b. Where schools are conducting online classes, and some students prefer to
  • attend online classes rather than physically attend school, they may be
  • permitted to do so.
  • c. Students may attend schools/institutions only with the written consent of
  • parents.
  • d. Attendance must not be enforced, and must depend entirely on parental
  • consent
  • e. States/ UTs will prepare their own Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
  • regarding health and safety precautions for reopening of
  • schools/institutions based on SOP to be issued by Department of School
  • Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education, Government of
  • India, keeping local requirements in view.
  • f. Schools which are allowed to open, will have to mandatorily follow the
  • SOP to be issued by Education Departments of States/UTs prepared as
  • above. 
Important SOPs, Guidelines For School Reopening

Gujarat has registered as many as 2,64,718 cases of coronavirus, while 4,400 people have succumbed to the infection so far. The daily nationwide COVID-19 caseload has reduced significantly in the past two months.