Sisodia asks school principals to chalk out micro-plan for reopening of educational institutions

New Delhi: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday interacted with principals of over 1,000 government schools and asked them to chalk out a micro-plan for reopening of educational institutions which have been closed for over two months due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Sisodia, who is also the Education Minister, said there cannot be a common plan for reopening all schools as the context of every school is different.

"I appeal to you to lead an in-depth brainstorming at school level involving all key stakeholders and come up with a micro-plan on how to lead the transition when the time comes," he told principals in an online interaction.

"The reason we are following an elaborate planning process is because we need to keep many factors in mind before taking a decision. It is not just about maintaining social distancing or sanitisation alone or calling one set of classes to school and not the others. Any decision will have far-reaching implications on children and their families because school is an integral part of our social life," the minister said.

He said it is not just about learning a few lessons from the textbooks, but the lessons of life itself. Therefore, any plan should keep in mind all possible situations.

"It is a nostalgic moment for all of us because when we first met with all the school principals after forming the government in 2015, we talked about taking our schools to new heights where sky's the limit. Today when I meet all my principals together for the first time after forming the government again in 2020, we are talking just about reopening the schools," he said.

Sisodia said, however, he is hopeful that despite change in the circumstances, they will together set new standards of school education again.

Universities and schools across the country have been closed since March 16 when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as one of the measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

Later, a 21-day nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, which came into effect the next day. The lockdown has now been extended till May 31.