Parents of children studying in class 10 and class 12 of schools across Jharkhand will have to submit a consent letter stating clearly that they are aware of precautions that students would need to take in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic while attending regular classes at school, officials of the Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC) said on Wednesday.

“Students will be allowed to attend regular classes only if they get consent letters from their parents. All schools will have to take the necessary Covid-19 precautions and maintain social distancing,” said JEPC Director Shailesh Chaurasia.

The Jharkhand government decided to reopen schools for students of class 10 and class 12 during a review meeting of the home, prisons and disaster management department on Tuesday night. However, while minister Banna Gupta said that schools would reopen with immediate effect, JEPC officials on Wednesday said that schools were likely to reopen from Monday, December 21.

“Regular classes for students of class 10 and class 12 are likely to resume next week. However, students of class 11 will continue attending online classes as of now,” said Chaurasia, adding that the government’s focus was on the students who would appear for their boards exams next year.

Schools across Jharkhand have remained closed since the imposition of a nationwide lockdown in March. After initial hiccups, the process of conducting online classes in government schools was also streamlined and the government launched special platforms for imparting lessons while students stayed indoors.

All students attending classes once schools reopen would have to wear facemasks, carry hand sanitisers and maintain social distancing during classes, JEPC officials said. Special seating arrangements will also be made in classrooms to ensure that students do not come in close contact with each other. Besides, students who have fever or are unwell will not be allowed to attend regular classes once schools reopen.

Several thousand students from Jharkhand will appear for class 10 and class 12 board exams under Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and ICSE next year. Usually, the exams are conducted in the months of February and March every year. However, board examinations are likely to be delayed this time due to the pandemic.

A notification from the school education and literacy department stated that all teachers of government-run middle schools across Jharkhand would have to be physically present at schools from Thursday. So far, only two teachers were supposed to attend school every day for non-teaching work.