Students were back in school on Monday, February 14, as offline classes resumed in many districts of Jammu and Kashmir, where authorities have ordered a phased reopening of educational o. The first phase involved students of Classes IX to XII attending classes, with their vaccination certificates in tow, according to a report by PTI.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary AK Mehta chaired a meeting to take stock of the arrangements for the reopening of educational institutions, said the academic session 2022-23 shall be the year of educational transformation for Jammu and Kashmir, and has asked officials to ensure proper maintenance, upkeep and cleanliness in educational institutions, besides electricity and water supply.
He noted that educational institutions need to learn from the experience of online classes and blend digital learning into offline classes. "There is a need for the institutions to build on the experience of online classes and adopt an ideal blend of IT-based offline teaching curriculum to boost students' learning outcomes and successfully train them for national-level examinations," he said.
He emphasised that heads of the institutions will be personally responsible for COVID management and a healthy teaching environment.
"There should be no tolerance of unhealthy activities in places of learning," he said, adding that the COVID-19 positivity rate in Jammu and Kashmir has been contained to 0.7 per cent and impressed upon the heads of all educational institutions to remain vigilant to any signs of infection, especially among unvaccinated students, besides ensuring adherence to COVID management protocol.
Vice-Chancellors of universities, principals of colleges and heads of schools were asked to submit COVID prevention and mitigation plans taking into account capacity of classrooms, staggered teaching plan, COVID protocol, vaccination, screening and emergency SoPs within two days, according to an official statement.
