Ahead of the Minster of Human Resource Development issuing guidelines to help schools plan their reopening, LEAD School, which is running the largest online school in the country, has submitted its recommendations to the Ministry, Central and State Boards. LEAD School also released the post-lockdown school handbook for the benefit of all schools across India to help them plan and prepare for reopening.

Amid the norms of social distancing set by the government of India, the handbook guides schools in running the essential activities ranging from school transport, classroom seating, offline-online learning, academic year planning and outdoor activities. It also focuses on health and hygiene and responsibilities of school, teachers, parents and students.

Key suggestions from the handbook include:

• Adopting cloud based system to help schools integrate online-offline learning
• Alternate day school or double shift school to maintain social distancing and reduce operational cost
• Starting academic year by June end online or increasing academic year duration to avoid learning loss during the year
• Advanced planning of assessments and staggered evaluations
• Maintaining 6 feet distance in seating through one student per desk or two per medium desk or three per long desk with one empty seat between each student. Similar vacant seating practices to be followed in school transport
• Opting for non-contact games and activities like Yoga, Aerobics, Hopscotch, Athletics or minimal contact games like Badminton, Table Tennis, among others
• Staggered lunch breaks and supervised lunch in the classroom for younger students
• Tie-up with local hospital or nursing home; on campus or on call availability of medical attendant

Sumeet Mehta, co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, LEAD School said, “For schools, the post-lockdown challenges can be solved when they work along with parents, teachers, education department and local governments to create safe and healthy environment. LEAD School has prepared a comprehensive handbook to help schools deliver excellent learning while taking care of the safety and health of their students and staff on reopening. The handbook contains a checklist that every school can use to prepare for the post-lockdown period.”

The handbook has been circulated to 800+ schools in 15 states, covering over 3 lakh students studying in tier 2, 3 and 4 cities and towns in India.

The detailed handbook can be accessed at https://leadschool.in/post-covid-guide-for-schools.html