Mumbai Civic Body Issues Protocol For Schools Before Physical Classes Resume

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday issued a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) as schools in Mumbai are set to resume physical classes for standard 8th to12th from October 4.

A student can attend school only with the parent's consent and attendance is not compulsory, the guidelines said.

If any student has symptoms such as fever, cold, shortness of breath, redness of eyes, swelling of fingers, hands and joints, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain, then she or he should be taken to a healthcare facility immediately.

All the teachers and other staff must have been vaccinated before a school starts, the SOP said.

Thermal scanning of each student should be done daily at the time of entering the school.

If any student or staff-member is found to have contracted coronavirus infection, the school should be closed, and the building should be disinfected, the BMC said.

Masks are mandatory for everyone all the time. Air conditioning should not be used in classrooms and if it is needed, the temperature should be maintained above 24 degrees Celsius.

Windows and doors should be kept clean and fully open.

Assembly, gatherings, annual day functions and other similar events which may lead to large gatherings of students should not be organized.

Only one student should be seated on a desk bench. If possible, students should have fixed places to sit daily.

A class can have a maximum of fifteen to twenty students at a time. If the number of students in a class is more than 20, students can be called in two sessions, the SOP said.

The duration of the actual class should not exceed three to four hours, and there should not be any lunch break.

Students should be instructed to submit homework online, and teachers should ensure that there is no exchange of books.

Social distancing should also be maintained in school buses or other vehicles ferrying students, the SOP added.