Tamil Nadu government issues new SOPs as colleges reopen; 50% students allowed on campus, face masks mandatory

The Tamil Nadu government reopened colleges in the state on Monday and have now released a set of Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs for both the college representatives and the students. These guidelines have been published to make running of offline classes in the state easier under the new normal. Students, teachers and other staff must follow these set of rules in view of the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The SOPs state that at any given point, there should not be more than 50 percent of the total student population present on the campus. Moreover, it is compulsory for every student, teacher, as well as the non-teaching staff to wear face masks so that it covers their nose as well as mouth. They must also maintain physical distancing at all times and avoid gathering. Although the classes have been reopened in the physical mode, all students will have the option of studying online for all the courses they are enrolled in. A part of maintaining necessary distance in the campus also allows colleges to cancel or forbid any extra curricular activity that involves congregation of individuals. The guidelines say that if students have to be divided into groups for maintaining due physical distance, then teachers might have to extend their working hours. In case of engineering colleges, if space is limited for the authority to ensure physical distance is maintained, students from any two years will be allowed to attend classes in one day and the students of the other two years will attend classes the next day. This has to be repeated alternatively, the SOP said. The Tamil Nadu government has also advised colleges to come up with six-day schedules so that classes are properly planned and chalked out. No visitor will be allowed inside the campus for the time being.