Schools are planning to reopen and colleges and universities are awaiting for more clarity following the chief minister’s go-ahead on Monday for resumption of in-person classes from November 16.
There are doubts about how many students will be called back to the campus but most schools, colleges and universities have started preparations for reopening.
Officials of several institutes across Kolkata said they were taking measures to comply with the Covid protocol such as sanitisation.
Once the students are back, the authorities have to ensure that they wear masks and maintain a safe distance from each other.
The Telegraph spoke to several institutions about their plans and preparations.
Schools
Several school heads said they were preparing to resume in-person classes but “blended learning” will continue.
Schools are awaiting detailed guidelines from the government regarding how many students can be on the campus at a time.
“For on-campus classes, we will focus more on practicals and assessments. The online classes will be more of lectures,” said Krishna Damani, trustee of South Point.
Since board exams (ISC, ICSE and CBSE) are scheduled for November and December, the schools have to prepare their timetables accordingly.
Mahadevi Birla World Academy says they are planning to bring students of other classes back on campus only on days when the board exams are not there.
“To maintain safety protocols we have to spread out the board examinees and will require more classrooms,” said principal Anjana Saha.
Calcutta Girls’ High School is planning to split each class or section into smaller groups.
DPS Ruby Park is preparing isolation rooms for students running a temperature. Hand sanitisers will be kept outside classrooms and at the main entrance.
Colleges, varsities
An official of the higher education department said an advisory specifying students of which classes will be called back will be issued in a day or two.
Some institutions have worked out plans on recalling students and conducting classes factoring in the safety protocols.
Dominic Savio, principal of St Xavier’s College, said they had plans to recall students of the outgoing batch pursuing science at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the first phase.
“Both for theory and practical classes, the students will be split into smaller groups and called on alternate days to avoid crowding,” he said.
Scottish Church College said they had plans to conduct classes in a blended mode. Principal Madhumanjari Mandal said: “Smart classrooms have facilities for live streaming lectures. So we can ask a section of students to come to the campus (and the other section can attend the lectures from home).”
Calcutta University vice-chancellor Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee said the campuses had been sanitised.
JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das said: “We are awaiting an advisory from the state government.”
