Karnataka: Govt PU colleges, schools get ready to welcome back students

KEY STORY

• Schools and PU colleges are all set to welcome students of classes 10 and 12 on January 1.

• To make sure institutions have the SOPs and safety measures in place, primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar inspected some of them on Wednesday. He visited the Government PU College and Maharani Ammanni College in Malleswaram, a Government High School in Hebbal and a few other institutions.

• From sanitisers and thermal scanners at the entrance to batch-wise classes to avoid crowding, government PU colleges have taken all necessary steps to remain safe from Covid-19.

• Suresh Kumar met the college authorities, teachers and even some I PU students, who were on campus to get their doubts clarified.

• Explaining their efforts to the minister, authorities of one of the colleges, said: “We will be dedicating two weeks to doubt-clearing sessions as students have a lot of questions after months of online classes. We also held meetings with parents online to understand their expectations and suggestions for us when we reopen.”

  “I held discussions with teachers to understand their level of preparedness 48 hours before institutes reopen. I inspected to see how they have prepared as per the SOP provided by the government and the feedback they received from parents about safety measures. Everything is going in a positive direction,” he said, adding colleges have isolation rooms for students, who show symptoms like cold or flu and that they have also tied up with the local hospital to deal with emergencies. He said students have to submit their RTPCR test report to the principal before joining classes.

  CONCLUSION

• The minister said the first class after reopening should focus on educating students about Covid-19. Kumar said old bus passes will work for students and they need not worry about transportation.

• A government high school near Rajajinagar has been swept clean and dusted before it reopens for students on Friday. The staffers say a limited number of students will attend classes at one time and social distancing will be maintained all along. Boxes have been drawn near hand-washing areas and other spots prone to crowding.

• A teacher who wished to remain anonymous said she is excited to meet her students after all these months. Her colleague added that it is also the responsibility of parents to instruct students to maintain discipline when they step out of homes.