The ICSE council has asked schools to spread awareness on how to wear masks, wash hands and maintain distance among each other as a precaution against Covid-19.

The Union education ministry has created an online link containing posters, wall paintings and social media creatives on the subject and sent it to all school heads, asking them to share the link with students, parents and teachers.

Several school heads said the move was aimed at familiarising students with Covid-safety norms ahead of possible resumption of in-person classes. Students have to be prepared well in advance on how to conduct themselves in the presence of friends, whom they will meet almost after a year, once campuses reopen.

“This is in reference to the IEC (Information, Education and Communication) material for mainstream Corona Responsive Behaviour (CRB) circulated by the ministry of education…. The link will give you access to posters, wall paintings and social media creatives. You are requested to share the... link with all teachers, staff, parents, students of your school,” reads a notice issued by Gerry Arathoon, the chief executive and secretary of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, which conducts ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) exams.

The posters include visual images with messages such as “Corona spreads when you share/Keep to yourself to show you care” and “Meet your friends and say hello/But remember touching is a strict no-no” and “4 golden rules when you are eating: Use a spoon, wash your hands, eat from your own plate or tiffin, maintain 6ft of distance from each other”.

The wall paintings demonstrate the distance to be maintained among each other outside toilets or on playgrounds, places where students are not usually under the supervision of an adult.

“We need to prepare students for classes on campus and they will have to maintain distance while they are writing examinations or attending classes because online classes cannot be a permanent thing,” said Terence Ireland, the principal of St James’ School.

Some of the heads plan to circulate the information through online classes.

“We will have a dedicated time during online classes to tell students about the safety protocol (to be maintained on the campus). They need to know they will have to abide by them for their own sake,” said Sujoy Biswas, the principal of Ram Mohan Mission High School.

“The children will meet after a long time and they will tend to drop guard. Hence, the training is important to make them more responsible.

The fear is they will want to get close to one another during lunch break…. There should be no assembly and entry and exit should be staggered,” said Manish Dalmia, a parent whose daughter is in Class XI and son in Class VI.