Delhi Government directs schools to come up with micro plans for reopening in July

Delhi Government has sought suggestions from the Head of Schools around the state to come up with a plan to conduct classes while maintaining the social distancing norms when the school reopens.

The Delhi Government has asked all the schools in the state to come up with a micro plan framework to reopen schools from July. The government has asked all the school heads in consultation with the teachers and members of the School Management Committee, to submit their respective framework by June 5. 

The decision will be taken by Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia after discussing the school plans with all district officers in charge.

In mid-March educational institutions across the country were forced to shut down followed by nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus outbreak.

The Delhi Government had also conducted online classes initially for Classes 9 to 12 students and later it declared summer vacations from May 11 to June 30. Now, schools have been asked to chalk out their academic calendars and ways to conduct classes in times of coronavirus.

The Directorate of Education (DoE), in a circular issued on Tuesday, said: “To initiate this planning process the facilitators of Cluster Leadership Development Programme shall conduct a session with about 10 heads of schools (HOSs) in their respective clusters in next fortnight.”

The directorate has asked the schools to submit a report on the current status of schools including the number of students, infrastructure, teacher support, support staff.

The DoE has also asked schools to consider a teaching-learning process that can mix regular classes with online resources. The schools have also been asked to assess the accessibility of smartphones for each student.

The Head of Schools has also been asked to track each student and provide them emotional support, ensuring sanitization, and maintaining social distancing when the schools reopen.

They have also been instructed to take stock of the number of children the schools are currently in contact with and whether all students will be able to attend schools in July or not. Schools are also to submit the number of students they can accommodate in each class with social distancing requirements in place.

Schools have also been asked to assess how many students have access to smartphones or regular phones or have no communication device at all. They must also check how many students can actually attend schools if they reopen in July.