Maharashtra school reopening: Education Department urges civic bodies to help schools in buying necessary COVID items

As per the standard operating protocol (SOP) issued by the department on November 10, all schools have been mandated to ensure that they use thermal guns, pulse oximeters, sanitizers and soaps, apart from ensuring that all teaching and non-teaching staff are checked for COVID-19.

The Maharashtra school education department has directed all the municipal commissioners and collectors to help schools procure all the items mandated for the re-opening of schools for senior classes amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country. The move comes after several school principals raised financial concerns over the procurement of items mandated by the government. 

For students from classes IX to XII, schools and junior colleges will reopen from November 23. As per the standard operating protocol (SOP) issued by the department on November 10, all schools have been mandated to ensure that they use thermal guns, pulse oximeters, sanitizers and soaps, apart from ensuring that all teaching and non-teaching staff are checked for COVID-19.

The Additional Chief Secretary (School Education) Vandana Krishna in a circular mentioned the role of the local administration in reopening of schools is mentioned in the SOPs released on November 10. She appealed to the local administrations to help schools and junior colleges in procuring necessary devices. The circular also requested civic officials to help arrange for free RT-PCR tests for all school staffers between November 17 and November 22.

While speaking to a media house, BMC Education Officer Mahesh Palkar said, “The BMC has been running free testing centers where teachers have been asked to get tested. For procurement of devices, we have authorised the headmasters of schools to make purchases from funds already with them. Also, all 1,136 BMC schools will be cleaned from November 20.”

The circular comes as a huge relief to private unaided schools, which do not receive funding from either the BMC or the government. The secretary of Brihanmumbai Association of Heads of Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools, Prashant Redij, welcomed the move.

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