New Delhi: In line with the Centre’s ‘Unlock 5’ guidelines, several states have decided to reopen schools in a graded manner after October 15. Notably, the Centre had given permission to states to open the schools provided all guidelines and precautions related to Covid-19 are strictly followed. The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has also issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which will have to be followed by state governments in case they decide to reopen schools. “Students can come to school but they will need a written consent of their parents or guardians. Online learning will still be encouraged in case students decide not to come to schools”, said the guidelines. Meanwhile, several surveys which have been carried out in recent times revealed that parents do not want to send their children to schools yet. According to a survey, 71 per cent of parents are not ready to send their children to schools while 9 per cent were indecisive.
Karnataka: Bowing to parental pressure, Karnataka Chief Minister said the state government was not in a hurry to open schools. Speaking to reporters after holding a high-level meeting with the officials regarding the Covid-19 preparations, Yediyurappa said “the topic of opening schools did not figure in our discussions at all”. “We are certainly not in a hurry to open school amid pandemic,” he said in response to a question.
Telangana: The Telangana government has issued guidelines under ‘Unlock 5’ but no decision has been taken on re-opening of schools and cinema theatres. According to the Government Order (GO) issued by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, separate orders will be issued regarding the date of opening of schools and coaching institutions.
Delhi: “The decision to close the schools in Delhi will continue. I have instructed to shut all schools till October 31. The order for the same will be released soon,” Manish Sisodia, who also holds the Education portfolio had said.
Andhra Pradesh: The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government has also decided not to resume normal classes till November 2.
Rajasthan: Rajasthan government, on the other hand, extended the summer school timings for all the schools till October 31. “Taking a decision on teacher and students’ interest on the outbreak of Coronavirus and the demand of teacher organizations, the summer school timing is extended to 31 October, making partial amendments to the camp programme. Time change of state government schools will now be from 1 November 2020,” State Education Minister wrote on Twitter.
Uttarakhand: Uttarakhand spokesperson and Cabinet Minister Madan Kaushik said that schools alone will not bear the responsibility of keeping a check on the spread of COVID-19 on the patrons. He added that neither school management nor the district education department can escape from their responsibility, reported Zee News.
West Bengal: The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in West Bengal has decided to not open schools till mid-November.
Maharashtra: Similarly, the Maharashtra government has also decided to defer resumption of normal classes till the end of this month.
Tamil Nadu: “The safety of the students is what we are focussed on right now and the Chief Minister will decide when schools will reopen after discussions with the Education, Health and other departments,” TN Education Minister had said. On the other hand, states like UP, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir have allowed senior students inside school premises for guidance.
Uttar Pradesh: The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government might reopen schools and other educational institutions in a graded manner from October 15.
Punjab: According to the fresh notification issued by the Punjab government, only classes 9 to 12 will be allowed initially and not more than 20 students per section will be allowed.
Haryana: The Haryana government is contemplating reopening schools for classes 6 to 9 to enable the students to take guidance from the teachers, in line with the Centre’s decision allowing graded resumption of schools from October 15.
If everything goes as per plans, the students of these classes can consult their teachers from October 15 onwards, Education Minister Kanwar Pal said.
Source: India.com news
Reopening Schools is an absolute careless and callious decission. Knowledge or learning is futile when in the grave and hence cannot be proritized or put before the hazards to health and life especially when schools have resolved the issue and dedicatedly continue with the syllabus through online classes. *Prevention is better than cure* Neither State nor Government takes responsibility or guarantees a safe environment or atmosphere for it’s citizens then how can they make decisions in a life and death situation, The government neither grants any kind of medical assistance or assurance of any kind not even to taxpayees and hence have no right take decissions endangering innocent lives who at these tender ages do not comprehend to differentiate a visible enemy then how can they save themselves from this life taking monster.
On line classes are a poor substitute for regular teaching. Health and safety of students and teachers ar of course top priority.
Perhaps a graded approach to resumption of physical classes may be considered with half the number of students for every class and all safety protocols for senior classes may commence. This will be mainly for doubt clearing and guidance. On line format will have to continue.
If reports of arrival, recess time and departure behaviour are satisfactory then the physical classes may be increased.
Yes Ms.L.C.Aaron,
You are right but lets think about it in a broader sense. Teachers are working in various areas like Urban/Rural, so people / residents of these areas have a different thinking / mindset. Lets talk about my self I belong to the rural area. Here the tuition fee is minimum like Rs.2000/- approx per month for students of class X . Parents as well as students boldly say No School No Tuition Fee. (In spite of Online classes in progress- with no holidays) Govt. does not support or care about schools’ difficulties & problems being faced by teacher faculty members or of about the school management. Schools should re-open and function with all precautionary measures. School management should be trusted for taking every precautionary measures and I think in a school campus the students are more safe than even in their own neighborhood. I truly agree with you that the govt. has no right to decide on close or open of schools. With mutual understanding and cooperation of school management & parents should be given top priority.
Online classes for all categories of students is the most appropriate action in the present scenario. COVID 19 will be definitely going to be there for few more months. As there is no treatment still available , so taking a risk is absolutely a nonsense decision. As we all aware that children will be more carefree and hence more prone for the viruses. Learning is going on in a more comfortable way online presently and can be continued till a proper vaccine is available for the masses.