Jaipur, Aug 26 (PTI) Opening after a gap of almost five months, schools in Rajasthan have been asked to hold yoga activities for students' mental health and stagger their timings to ensure minimal physical interaction.

The suggestions are part of a standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the director of secondary education on Wednesday.

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Private and government schools will be opening for the first time since April for students of classes 9-12 on September 1.

As per the SOP, schools have been instructed to keep separate timings for arrival and departure of students of different classes so that there is no gathering of all the students at the same time.

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For schools running in one shift, students of classes 9 and 11 will enter at 7.30 am and leave at 12.30 pm, while for those in classes 10 and 12, the entry and exit time will be 8 am and 1 pm, respectively.

In two-shift schools, students of classes 9 and 11 will enter at 12.30 pm and leave by 5.30 pm, while the timing for students of class 10 and 12 will be 1 pm and 6 pm, respectively.

To alleviate some of the lockdown severity, the department has recommended organising yoga activities for a few minutes in schools.

The SOP proscribes assembly prayers, sports, group activities as well as use of air conditioning. If it is to be used, then the temperature needs to be kept between 24 and 30 degrees Celsius, the SOP instructed.

It prohibits cooking of midday meals, and mandates wearing of masks for everyone.

Students have been asked to procure consent from their guardians before they begin attending the classes. Attendance will not be mandatory, according to the guideline.

Schools in the state were closed due to lockdown in view of the second wave of corona infection in April this year.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)