A senior official from the School Education Department said that the government was planning to reopen schools, especially for board exam students in January, after Pongal. ICMR study that says the children were spreaders or even super-spreaders of coronavirus, the official said that it would be difficult to monitor each and every school on whether all safety measures were being followed. The government has informed that following 5 steps will be taken before reopening the schools. 

1. Due to the increase in fresh COVID-19 cases at IIT-Madras and Anna University, the School Education Department, which was planning to reopen schools in January, is likely to further postpone its decision because of the fact that students could turn into super spreaders of the virus.

2. Due to the fresh feedback from academicians and health experts, the concerned authorities are also discussing whether to link schools with nearby public health centres after the institutions are opened in January. These centres may be asked to conduct camps in schools regularly to track students' health. 

3. These health centres would also carry out vaccination drive once the shots arrive. 

4. Government will distribute Masks to government and government-aided schools. 

5. The government is to get invite feedback from parents and academicians before finally deciding on a date to reopen schools. 

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