Unlock 5 guidelines extended to November 30: What schools and colleges need to follow

 The Unlock 5 guidelines now need to be followed till November 30. Here are the school reopening guidelines and what colleges and educational institutions may or may not do.

IT, New Delhi, October 27, 2020 : The Ministry of Home Affairs announced that the Unlock 5 guidelines announced in September for reopening schools and colleges have now been extended to November 30. Lockdown will strictly continue till November 20 in containment zones.

With a dip in Covid-19 cases, the government said that there would be no restrictions anymore on inter- and intra-state movement of people. No separate permission would be required for the same.

The Unlock 5 guidelines had been announced on September 30 and were put in effect the next day.

Most parents are unwilling to send their kids to school till the Covid-19 danger is completely over.

Here are the Unlock 5 guidelines that schools, colleges and educational institutes need to note:

1. As per the earlier Unlock guidelines, state governments and union territories could take a decision on when to reopen schools and educational institutions in respective states depending on the local Covid-19 situation. The same continues and states can reopen schools in a graded manner in non-containment zones.

2. Online learning or distance learning methods will be encouraged.

3. Students who want to continue online learning and not go to school will be permitted to do the same.

4. Students may attend school and institutions only with the written consent of their parents or guardians.

5. Attendance must not be enforced, and must depend entirely on parental consent.

6. States and UTs will prepare their own SOPs depending on local requirements. This will be based on the SOP issued by Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education, Government of India. Schools which reopen have to mandatorily follow the state/UT SOPs.

7. The Department of Higher Education (DHE), Ministry of Education can consult with the MHA and take a decision on the timing of reopening schools, colleges and higher education institutes.

8. PhD students or research scholars and MA students from science streams who need laboratory access may go to the higher education institutions from October 15 based on the following basis:

• For Centrally Funded HEIs, the head of the institution has to satisfy himself/herself on the requirement of lab/experimental works
• Other HEIs like state universities, private universities etc, may reopen only for lab/experimental works as per the decision of the respective states or UTs.