Tamil Nadu govt seeks info on vaccination status of parents before reopening schools

Accordingly, the authorities will be getting the information about the vaccination status of the family members of the students through the consent letter from the parents, who should also declare that they were willing to send their children following all safety measures. 

As the physical classes from Class IX to Class 12 have already started, the School Education Department has decided to open elementary and middle-level schools following the advice of the health experts. About 41 lakh students studying from Class one to Class eight in about 44,000 government and private schools are expected to come to schools from November 1. 

A senior official from the School Education Department told DT NEXT that cleaning and sanitization inside the school premises have started and the inspection would be carried out just one week before the reopening of schools for Class one to Class eight. 

"It would be a challenging task for the school management and teachers to strictly follow all the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) including maintaining social distance once the school reopened for these children", he said adding "therefore, in a recent review meeting, the authorities from the Health Department told education officials to ensure that the parents and family members of students, who come to school from November 1, should get vaccinated at least once". 

The official said the parents should indicate that how many members have been vaccinated in the consent letter, which would be circulated by both government and private schools. "They (parents) should also mention that how many family members have not been vaccinated till now", he said. 

He said the information about vaccination of family members of the students would be collected well before the opening of schools so that the headmasters and teachers could have enough time to advise the parents, who were not inoculated, for getting vaccinated not only safety for their children but also for other students, who come to the school. 

"In addition to the students, the government would also ensure that all the teachers and administrative staff have been vaccinated at least once before the opening of schools", he said.