GUWAHATI, Sept 28: After a hiatus of about six months, offline lessons for students from Classes I to VIII in Assam will resume from October 19, adhering to all COVID-19 protocols, an official notification stated on Tuesday.
Classes in lower primary (Class I to V) and upper primary (Class VI to VIII) levels of both government and private schools will be held for three days a week.
“In respect of Class I to III, formal classes will be conducted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. For Classes IV and V, the lessons will be conducted every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,” the notification stated.
Likewise, for Class VI, the lessons will be conducted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday; for Class VII, formal classes will be conducted every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday while for Class VIII, the classes will be conducted every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
“There should not be more than 30 students in a section. The heads of the institutions will assess the required number of sections and open more sections accordingly if required,” it stated.
Attendance of students of lower primary and upper primary schools however will not be compulsory and will depend on parental consent.
The headmasters/headmistresses of schools have been directed to supervise and ensure that the timings of the classes, maintenance of safety protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic shall be strictly monitored.
“The reopening of physical classes in educational institutions is based on the criteria that the COVID-19 positivity rate is below 2 percent in the districts. In case in any district the positivity rate goes above 2 percent on a particular day, the deputy commissioner of the concerned district, as chairman of District Disaster Management Authority in consultation with the managing director of National Health Mission, will close the educational institutions till the positivity rate goes below 2 percent,” the notification stated.
Earlier, the Assam Cabinet had decided to resume offline classes for students of Class 10 in high schools, high madrassas, residential and day boarding schools from September 20.
Classes for Class XII and final year degree and postgraduate students in schools, colleges and universities resumed from September 6 in view of the improvement in the state’s COVID-19 situation.