Schools in Pune to reopen from January 4

Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), on Thursday, passed an order allowing the reopening of schools for class 9th to 12th from January 4. The administration has laid out the guidelines to be followed by the school administrations.

“Schools will have to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) provided by the education department issued on November 10. Thermal scanning, sanitization is made compulsory for every student and staff entering the school”, said the order.

The Municipal Corporation in its order has asked teachers and staff of the school to undergo RT-PCR test before they join. Earlier several parents objected to reopening the school and requested the administration to postpone the reopening in view of rising COVID-19 cases in the city.

Now, in a fresh order, PMC has made it mandatory for students to bring the written consent of their parents before they join the school. The school administration has also been advised to make adequate arrangements to maintain social distancing in the classroom.

Earlier, the state government had issued an order to reopen the schools for Class 9th to 12th from November 23. However, the state government had also allowed local administration to take a call for their cities based on the situation on the ground.

Pune Municipal Corporation had decided to postpone the reopening of schools twice in view of rising COVID cases in the city. As per the data maintained by Municipal Corporation, there are about 400 private and 45 government-run schools in the jurisdiction of Pune Municipal Corporation.