GUWAHATI, Sept 13 - The State government is preparing a fresh SOP (standard operating procedure) for reopening educational institutions.
Official sources said the State government will allow resumption of classes from IX standard onwards from this month.
�We will initially resume the classes from IX standard onwards. We would then see the public reaction and if it poses any risk to the safety of students. Only after that we would take a call on resuming education in lower classes,� the official said.
The Union Health Ministry has already issued an SOP for partial reopening of schools. The Central ministry has issued social distancing guidelines, including the use of face masks, maintaining six-foot distance between students, following respiratory etiquette, installation of Aarogya Setu application �wherever feasible� and prohibition of spitting.
Assam is, however, preparing its own SOP which is likely to be ready within a week.
�Our SOP will be in sync with the Central guidelines. The State health department has also issued a set of guidelines that needs to be followed. Our SOP will be a consolidated one,� sources said.
The sources indicated that the resumption of the classes will be done in a formal manner. �The SOP will lay down a systematic way of resuming the classes. The classes will be formal,� the sources added.
The educational institutions are closed since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government has been emphasizing on online classes, but its effectiveness has been poor due to technological bottlenecks.
Many of the educational institutions in the State were used as quarantine centres and they are being sanitized during the first fortnight of September.
