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December 08, 2023 12:26 am | Updated 03:07 pm IST – CHENNAI
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The School Education Department on Thursday directed the Chief Education Officers in Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvallur districts to form a committee to visit every school before reopening on Monday to check for any damage that was caused by Cyclone Michaung.
According to a press release, the schools have to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. The debris in the school must also be removed, and the areas must be checked for any deadly poisonous animals or plants.
As many schools are in heavily inundated areas, the perimeter of the schools has to be barricaded so that students don’t go within 20 feet of the perimeter. The classrooms that are damaged should be locked, and barricades should be placed on any building that needs to be rebuilt so that the students don’t enter them.
Any open wells have to be covered, kitchen areas have to be whitewashed, and stoves must be repaired. Provisions for drinking water should be arranged, and toilets and electrical wiring have to be checked too, the release said.
The department requested the parent-teacher associations to help and also asked the headmasters to visit the school from Friday to ensure that the schools are completely ready for the students.
As the schools and colleges in the Chennai and Tiruvallur districts are to be closed on Friday, the teachers are confident that the cleaning works will be finished on time for reopening.
“Only 20% of the schools in Chennai are in bad condition due to the rains, especially in areas such as Tiruvottiyur. The cleaning work will be conducted 24×7 so that the schools will be ready by the end of Friday, said an official from the department.
Cleaning work has been ongoing in most schools in areas where inundated water will be removed soon. “We are almost done with disinfection; only a few classrooms are wet, and those too will dry up by this weekend,” said Manimaran, Headmaster of M.G.R. Nagar Government School.
However, in areas where the inundation was very bad, the school teachers are having a hard time getting the environment ready for the students by Monday.
“We still have knee-deep water in the school, and a lot of snakes are in it, due to which nobody is willing to undertake the job of pumping the water out. We have been visiting the school regularly, but it’s difficult to conduct any work as the threat is huge,” said a teacher from Jaigopal Garodia Government Hr. Sec. School, Tiruvottriyur.
Doctors stressed on the importance of hand hygiene for children, as there would be bacteria present that could lead to diarrhea. “The desks in ground-floor classes, in particular, might have been submerged in water. They have to be thoroughly disinfected as they might still have bacteria present on them, which can lead to sickness in children,” said Dr. Ramasubramanian, consultant infectious diseases, Apollo Hospitals.
They also cautioned against mosquito-borne diseases, which the children might be easily susceptible to.
Meanwhile, public health expert Dr. Kolandhswamy was against the move by the government to open schools on Monday. “The schools can be opened on next Thursday instead, as there has to be extensive work undertaken before the children can come to school. The government must specify that a sanitation inspector has to certify the functionality of the school before it reopens for children, as there are great risks to their lives,” he said.
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