Unlock 6.0 latest guidelines: What do they mean for schools, colleges, other educational institutions

The Ministry of Home Affairs did not make any new changes to the existing Unlock 5 guidelines in its latest instructions for another set of unlocking and said that they would continue to be implemented in November. However, a strict lockdown will be seen in containment areas.

What the latest guidelines mean for schools, colleges, and educational institutions:

1) On the reopening of schools and other educational institutions, states and union territories have been given an upper hand to decide whether to start classes or not.

2) Online learning has been encouraged to avoid the spread of the virus. Students have the option of not going to school and continuing distance education.

3) However, if a student decides to go to school, parents or guardians' written consent will be mandatory.

4) States and UTs will be required to prepare their SOPs according to the Unlock 5 guidelines of the Center and their respective units' ground situation.

5) Higher institutions can reopen only for Ph.D. and PG students in science and technology streams that require experimental or laboratory work.

6) Attendance will depend entirely on parental consent and cannot be enforced by schools.

7) Schools will have to make changes in the students' seating plan to ensure physical distancing and exit-entry timetables for different students' groups.

8) Physical distancing should be maintained in schools; students and teachers should wear face masks at all times.

9) Mandatory for schools to ensure proper cleanliness and hygiene of all parts of the school, provision for hand wash and disinfection, seating plan, safe transport scheme, timer tables and stuttering of classrooms, caution at entry and exit points has gone.