Punjab education dept issues orders to resume classes at 10 residential meritorious schools

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, February 3

About a month after the resumption of physical classes for all students of day schools in the state, the school education department has now decided to open 10 meritorious schools -- the residential/boarding schools in the state.

These schools will resume functioning on February 9 but all students in these residential schools would be quarantined for 24 hours after they join the schools.

Punjab has 10 meritorious schools, opened by the state government under the “Society for Promotion of Quality Education for Poor & Meritorious Students of Punjab”. The schools are residential and affiliated to PSEB and are for 10+1 and 10+2 classes only with the aim of placing deserving students into professional colleges at the all India level. The students are providing free education, lodging/boarding, books, stationery and uniforms. The government school students who have scored more than 80% marks in Matriculation are eligible for admission in these schools.

As per the directions, issued by the school education department, at the school gate, thermal scanner shall be provided to the security staff so that all incomers are screened before entering the school premises. The students joining the school need to bring sanitizer and seven useable masks (washable). They will also bring six pieces of soap or liquid soap as per their convenience. The consent of parents will be taken before the students join the schools.

The students who wish to join the school shall bring the Covid-19 negative certificate (RT-PCR certificate). This condition will also apply to mess contractors and the workers deployed by them. The mess, canteen and hall shall be sanitized before February 9.

There are about 4,000 students in all 10 meritorious schools in the state in Class 10+2. Though these schools are for 10+1 and 10+2 classes but as there was no admission in Class 10+1 due to Covid-19 this time, so there are only Class 10+2 students. These schools are situated at Amritsar, Bhatinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Talwara, Gabhdan village in Sangrur, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur and Mohali.

As per the instructions, issued by the department, the male/female warden will stay in the hostel with the students. Only one authorised person shall be allowed to meet the student and that too only in case of emergency. This person will required to have RT-PCR negative report to be brought by him/her. Students counselling shall be regularly ensured by the teachers and wardens to take care of any mental of emotional health issue of the students. All students will bring necessary belongings like stationary/water bottle, clothes of students and will not share these things with other students.

Students will be allotted hostel rooms in a way that one student is allotted one room in a serialised sequence. If the number of students exceeds, second student will be sent in rooms continuing with the serialized sequence, this exercise will continue till all students are assigned rooms, however it will be ensured that there are not more than three students in a room.

The distance in the hostel between various beds shall be 6 feet minimum. In the classroom one student sits at each bench. The strength of sections be doubled so that proper social distancing is maintained.

The male/female wardens will go to the rooms and take attendance on individual room and also monitor social distancing. There will be no assembly in the morning/evening except in case of need the principal is permitted to organize special assembly with the due precautions.

The person brining vegetables and eatables for mess shall also be subject to Thermal Scanning and should have Covid-19 negative certificate (RT-PCR certificate).