Schools Reopening: Jharkhand to reopen schools for classes 6 to 8

With a continuous decline in COVID-19 cases in Jharkhand, the state government on Thursday allowed schools to conduct offline classes for class 6-8 from September 20.

Keeping in view all the COVID-19 protocols, the state government has issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to schools.

According to the notice issued by Jharkhand Disaster Management Division, schools will now operate a blended mode of education in the state, that is, online as well as offline classes.

"Attendance shall not be mandatory for students to attend offline classes. And prior consent of guardian shall be mandatory for students to opt for offline classes," the statement read.

In order to maintain social distancing, group activities and offline examinations are prohibited in all the schools. All the students and staff members are required to wear the masks properly covering their mouth and nostrils.

Additionally, teachers are required to be compulsorily inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines before coming to schools for offline classes.

The state government has also advised that schools should use air conditioning to the minimum possible extent, instead should avail fresh air ventilation in indoor spaces.

For classes 6-12, schools should not exceed offline classes more than four hours, that is, 12 pm.

Presently, the state has only 110 active cases of coronavirus infection, taking the overall caseload to 3,48,096.