By  Prakash Silwal, Kathmandu, April 7: The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has prepared a 12-point code of conduct that should be abided by the concerned while using schools as the quarantine as a part of the government bid to fight the COVID-19.    

The sides that use school buildings for quarantines should abide by the code of conducts after a written agreement as per the sample code of conduct, 2020 prepared in coordination with the Education and Human Resource Development Centre and Education Cluster.    

The schools could be used as the quarantine to house the suspected cases of coronavirus only if other places were not available and the schools’ physical and internal management and security should be managed by coordinating with an individual designated by the local government and the schools.    

Likewise, the schools should be paid and the physical infrastructures should be repaired if there was any damage while the cost of drinking water supplies, electricity and other facilities should be covered by the quarantine managing side.    

However, the laboratories, libraries, science lab and sports materials of the schools would not be available for the use and the school garden, plants and trees should not be damaged as stated in the code of conducts. Any kind of anti-social activities, smoking, drinking liquor and activities that stand against the ideas of school as the zone of peace are banned, it is stated.    

The code of conduct has mentioned to spray pesticide by cleaning school rooms, kitchen, toilets, playground, wells and taps, as well as other things after lockdown, said Centre’s Director Gehanath Gautam. The Centre has also proposed guideline regarding using schools as quarantine.

The Centre has not received details about the number of schools developed as quarantines so far as it is the responsibility of local levels to run schools up to secondary level. Director Gautam urged the bodies concerned to mandatorily follow the model code of conduct as it is in favour of schools, students and guardians.    

He said that the monitoring would be conducted after the lockdown if the code of conduct was implemented or not.