60% parents have given consent: Min.

Education minister Sabitha Indra Reddy said 60 per cent of parents had already given their consent for their wards to attend schools from February 1. She said there were no rule requiring students to attend classes at school. They would be allowed to do so only with the consent of the parents.

She was speaking after a meetings with district education officers and district Intermediate education officers separately, as part of efforts to prepare educational institutions for the reopening of educational institutions.

The minister assured the parents that schools will be operational with full adherence to Covid-19 guidelines and that it was safe for them to send kids to school. She said that managements of educational institutions with their monitoring committees have prepared an action plan for all institutions.Thermal screening would be done in every school, and said that any negligence in regular sanitisation of classrooms would lead to action.

The minister further urged schools to use only fresh rice and all other food items for the mid day meal scheme and to implement the scheme following the Covid-19 precautions.

On the syllabus to be covered in schools, she said that since 70 per cent of the syllabus has already been completed online, students will need to focus on the rest of the syllabus along with their doubts. The minister urged that steps be taken to boost morale among students during the upcoming tenth class examinations.