While some schools in India reopened partially on voluntary basis for classes 9-12 in September during Unlock 4, Ministry of Home Affairs released an official statement with detailed guidelines for schools and universities reopening from 15^th October in a graded manner during Unlock 5. The states have been given the right to decide whether and when they want to reopen schools. Scientists all over the world are trying to find a cure to COVID-19, but without any available antivirus, parents are apprehensive about sending their children to school. The past seven months of lockdown has taken a huge toll on the educational system. Although, schools and universities have been organizing online classes on regular basis but getting undivided attention of students online has been an uphill task. Moreover, attending online classes requires proper devices and connectivity which has been difficult for parents to arrange owing to financial crisis. Arranging online classes though have been possible in metropolitan areas but the rural areas are the ones who have suffered the most due to lack of amenities and the students have been missing out on almost a year of education from their lives. So, as much as it is essential for schools to reopen to resume educational growth all over the country, the call of the hour is ensuring safety of students. We at ARC have come up with signs and posters that can communicate all the measures that can help schools and universities turn into a safe place for students and faculties to come back to school. Let us take a sneak peek into the essential preparations that need to be done by schools and universities before reopening:

• Social Distancing Graphics – Maintaining six feet social distancing is one of the most primary guidelines to stay safe from the outspread of COVID-19. To maintain social distancing properly, it is important to install floor decals in all sitting areas of schools and universities. These floor decals will create safe markers for new sitting arrangements in classrooms, libraries, cafeterias, etc. Our decals are made with quality materials that can resist wear and tear for long period of time and are made with anti-slip material ensuring students are safe even if they run over them. Our decals are washable and highly durable. Apart from floor decals, we also offer social distancing graphic signs which are colorful, attractive and sends across messages for social distancing in ways students can connect to. These graphic signs are fully customizable and we can include school or university banners and logos as well. These signs will act as a constant reminder for students and faculties to practice social distancing on a daily basis while they are inside the school premises. We also offer navigational signs which will be of utmost importance to direct movement of students in a controlled manner inside the building premises. We have various types of directional signage like wall mounted signs and floor signs that will make guidance of movement inside the premises safe through efficient measures.
• Hygiene Signage – We offer a varied range of health and hygiene signage that helps in promoting safety guidelines throughout the school and university premises to ensure safety of students as well as faculties. It is of utmost importance to constantly remind students and faculties of the health and safety guidelines as imposed by the government. Use of face masks needs to be absolutely mandatory and washing of hands and sanitizing in regular intervals will ensure safety inside the building premises. School staffs also need to ensure all touch surfaces are properly sanitized every day. We have all sorts of health and safety signages that will fetch attention of students of all ages which are graphical and colorful and will send across proper messages that students will easily connect with. Please get in touch with us and we can even customize any design based on specific requirements of schools and universities.

So, it is needless to say that as schools reopen in the coming days, the safety of students and faculties is in the hands of the authorities. All schools need to ensure that proper safety measures are in place so as to instill confidence in parents to send students without any worries. As state governments are still deciding when they are planning to reopen schools, the school authorities need to take this time as an opportunity to setup measures to ensure all guidelines will be followed and do mock drills to test effectiveness of the measures undertaken. Get in touch with us at the earliest with all your requirements and we will help you setup safety measures inside the building premises by installing our Covid-19 safety graphics and signage. These have become one of the top priorities along with wearing masks, sanitizing premises, properly washing hands and frequently checking body temperature. The transformation to the new normal can only be efficiently done by putting all the mentioned measures in place.