Schools where students will appear in the ICSE and ISC exams will have an additional round of inspection, during which officials will check seating arrangements, sanitisation system and other Covid-19 protocols, said conveners.

Usually, conveners visit the schools in their respective zones during the exams. This time, there will be a visit before the start of the exams as well, following an instruction from the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, which conducts the ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) exams.

“The conveners have been asked to do one inspection before the board exams. We will see whether the Covid protocols are being followed. The conveners will inspect the seating arrangements, sanitisation system, availability of sanitisers and other things. The inspection will be done after the schools are ready with the arrangements and before the exams,” said Sanchita Biswas, the principal of St Paul’s Mission School and an ISC convener.

All schools are required to maintain a gap of six feet between two examinees. In previous years, the requirement was to maintain a gap of two feet.

“We usually do not make a visit before the exams, but this year we will,” said Lionel Chellappa, the principal and assistant administrator of the Assembly of God Church School Park Street, and an ISC convener.

“We will have to ensure that the protocols announced by the council and the state government are followed.I plan to make a visit before the practicals to find out how many batches are there and how the lab space is being divided and utilised.”

The ICSE and ISC theory papers start on May 4.The ISC practical exams are scheduled between April 1 and May 31.

The Covid safety norms will include staggered movement of candidates, maintaining distancing norms, proper sanitisation of exam halls and frequently touched surfaces and keeping isolation rooms ready.

“Since it is Covid, we have to be doubly sure and we cannot take chances,” said Bobby Baxter, the principal of Julien Day School Ganganagar and a ICSE convener.

Aniket Debroy, another ICSE convener and principal of St Thomas’ Day School,

on Free School Street, said they would also check whether arrangements were being made to measure the body temperature of the examinees.

The principals are in touch with the conveners in their zones to be briefed about the safety protocols.

“There is going to be zone meetings to be briefed about the details that schools are expected to adhere to,” said Jessica Gomes Surana, the principal of Loreto Convent, Entally.

Conveners also expect schools to adhere to all norms and nobody would take it lightly.

“This being an unusual year, the schools will not take it lightly and we think nobody is going to cut corners,” said Sanchita Biswas, of St Paul’s Mission School.

Each convener has about 10 to 15 schools in his or her zone.

The usual visit by conveners during the exams will be held this year, too.