Schools told to submit safety certificates before reopening

Administration of government and private schools in the region remained on their toes to ensure the safety of premises at their respective institutes prior to the resumption of classroom teaching in a phased manner from Monday.

Though the final decision of opening schools is to be taken by the respective Deputy Commissioners of each district, District Education Officers have advised heads of various schools to inspect their respective institutes and submit safety certificates in connection with each room to be accessible to students and teachers.

Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, too, has issued an advisory on the reopening of schools. Perusal of a communiqué received at schools revealed that the heads of the institutes were asked to submit certificates regarding safety of various premises after conducting physical verification of all wings and rooms of their organisations.

“As schools are reopening on Monday heads of all the schools of the district are asked to submit school building safety certificates with concerned authorities by 12 on Sunday,” read communication addressed by Malerkotla DEO (Secondary) to all schools of the district.

Authorities at various schools claimed that they had carried out inspections and submitted certificates in the prescribed proforma to the Education Department, in compliance with the guidelines of the DEO.

“Though we had got building safety certificates recently from the authorised personnel of the Municipal Council, we inspected all wings and rooms to further verify safety of the premises,” said Viney Goyal, a principal at a private school.

Meanwhile, authorities in the Education Department said students would be allowed to attend classes from Tuesday, while teachers and other staff members will attend the school on Monday.

School Management Committee, personnel of civic bodies, including councils and nagar panchayats will facilitate cleaning and sanitization of premises of government school buildings.