Days after the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Public Health had issued the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Covid-19 safety guidelines for the schools after their resumption, Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi has on Saturday said that the schools for classes 9 to 12 will definitely be reopened on September 1 and that the students and staffers must adhere to the Covid-19 protocols and guidelines.
With the affirmation, students have to get ready to go to their schools and attend physical classes for the first time in 18 months and have to brace up a different fashion of new normal with strict guidelines. The students have been confined at their homes and taking classes online in the wake of the Covid-19 spread and lockdown. The talks of resuming the schools had begun when the state had been reporting a decline in the Covid-19 cases and the deliberation to reopen schools was done after the experts and educationalists had alarmed that incessant detachment from schools has been causing stress for students with several of them didn't able to cope up with the online classes due to lack of facilities and poor connectively.
After episodes of deliberation, the Tamil Nadu government has announced that it is ready to reopen the schools for Classes 9 to 12 from September 1. The school education department had also instructed the authorities and district educational officers to carry out the measures for reopening the schools. Earlier this month, Chief Minister MK Stalin has said that the government has planned to reopen the schools for Classes 9 to 12 from September 1. In a statement, he has said that the experts are of assertions to reopen the schools by stating that students have been under depression since they continue to remain indoors and it has created a gap in the learning process among students.
They also had pointed out that a majority of students could not attend online classes due to network issues and the Chief Minister has added that considering the opinion of various sections, it has been proposed to reopen the schools for classes 9 to 12 with 50 per cent of students from September 1 by adhering to the Covid-19 guidelines. Furthermore, the School Education Department has been instructed to undertake preliminary works towards the reopening of schools for these students.
However, the government earlier hasn't issued a confirmation that the schools will be reopened from September 1. On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi has held a meeting with all the Chief Educational Officers (CEO) to discuss the reopening of schools from September 1 and to understand the challenges faced by the department. The meeting had also discussed reducing the syllabus for the classes this academic year and framing detailed SOPs for schools that should be adhered to in the premises.
The minister has also been discussing with the officials of different departments like the Directorate of Government Examination and Directorate of Elementary Education. After attending the meeting on Tuesday, School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi had urged the department to be ready with all the preparations for reopening the schools. It was decided in the meeting that the final decision on the reopening of schools from Classes 9 to 12 will be taken after meeting Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday - August 20. However, there had been no announcement regarding the same on Friday.
On Saturday, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi has reiterated that the Tamil Nadu government is affirmed to reopen the schools for Classes 9 to 12 from September 1 and said that the school education department has been carrying out discussion with the stakeholders to meet the affirmation. He was addressing reporters in Trichy on Saturday during which he threw more weight to the government's affirmation of reopening the schools on September 1.
He said, "We have been making arrangements to reopen the schools from September 1. We are carrying out measures over how the students should be seated with physical distancing and we have asked for opinions from the directorate of the public health and they will also be implemented." His statement has come when Chief Minister MK Stalin tabled a meet with the authorities in Chennai to discuss the lockdown extension. As the government is planning to reopen the schools on September 1, the Chief Minister had also reviewed the situation to resume physical classes.
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