Srinagar: The J&K Government on Sunday ordered for reopening of schools for all classes from February 28 while ensuring complete adherence to Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB).
The order in this regard was issued by the J&K Chief Secretary who is also the Chairman State Executive Committee, after holding a detailed review of the current COVID-19 situation in J&K to assess the overall situation pertaining to the spread of COVID-19.
The government has ordered that the winter zone schools of J&K shall commence offline teaching for all classes after February 28. Notably, the winter vacation for schools in Kashmir and winter zones of Jammu division will end on February 26 (saturday) and February 28 (Monday) will be the first working day for all schools.
“The head of the institutions must ensure that guidelines related to vaccination for students above 15 years, social distancing norms and Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) are followed,” the order reads.
The order was issued by the committee in exercise of the powers conferred upon it under section 24 of Disaster Management Act 2005.
As already reported, the Higher educational institutions in J&K and the schools from class 9th to 12th have already commenced their routine class work from last week. Also, the junior classes in Jammu division are scheduled to reopen for routine offline class work from February 21.
“Heads of institutions shall be responsible for adherence to CAB in their respective schools and prepare proper plans for the same. Symptomatic students should not be allowed to attend school. No student should be allowed to attend School without a mask,” the order said.
The students have been already advised to carry their vaccination certificate with them while coming to their respective schools and higher educational institutions.
“The heads of institutions must ensure vaccination is done of every student above 15 years of age in their respective institutions. The vaccination adherence shall be ensured through coordination with the department of health and medical education J&K,” the order reads.
The SEC has also stated that there was a need for additional measures besides continuing with the existing COVID containment measures in all districts even though daily Covid-19 cases and positivity rate are generally showing a declining trend.
Notably, the government has already allowed all the private coaching centres providing coaching for Civil Services, Engineering and NEET competitive exams to adopt offline mode of teaching subject to condition that both faculty members as well as students are fully vaccinated.
“The Head of the centre should ensure due precautions such as CAB and adherence to SOPs,” the order reads.
The SEC has also ordered that all Deputy Commissioners (DCs) will intensify testing and ensure full utilisation of available RT-PCR and RAT capacities. “There shall be no drop in testing levels,” read the order.