Parents, schools not keen on shut down once again
New Delhi: Even as the Delhi government has left the decision of closing schools over Covid to schools, teachers and parents are not inclined to go through with shut downs any more while some schools have said they might not have an option but to shut down.
HoS of Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya LK Dubey said that with a lot of difficulties offline classes have resumed and shutting down the school would affect the education of the children. The state government has not yet issued any detailed guidelines as to what action should be taken if a Covid case comes up among the staff or students.
"We have been told by the Education Department to inform them immediately if anyone tests positive. We have put out an internal set of guidelines for the staff and students on all the WhatsApp groups and urged them to follow covid protocols," he said. Currently, examinations for classes IX and XI are ongoing which would be affected if classes were stopped.
A senior official of the education department said that there are very few cases in schools and it would not be feasible to shut down a wing or entire school as of now. "We will wait and see if a school reports cases then we will issue specific guidelines to that school and control the spread in that area," he said.
Amidst this, Sisodia on Friday said, "We haven't asked them to close schools. Our guidelines say that only a specific wing or classroom where someone was found Covid positive should be temporarily closed."
"Schools can take a decision to close the entire premises in specific cases where an infected child or staff has been through multiple areas of the school. We have made it decentralised," he said.
Meanwhile, most parents are also opposed to shutting down schools with many saying that the government should clamp down on all other activities and not just schools if cases are rising.
A mother to a class VIII student said that schools and educational institutions should be the last option. "Malls and theatre halls, events, weddings are all allowed and nobody is questioning that. Why should schools be the first, any responsible government will keep that as a last option," she said.
Another city parent, Tanya Aggarwal, said that schools clearly are not the only places where Covid spreads and adults can also bring home infection. "I've got an email from my kid's school saying two parents are positive — does that mean the school should be shut down? If there is an uptick in cases, why are only schools being targeted? And if there is an uptick, is it severe or is it mild? If mild then what are we worried about? If someone says long covid, then my response is what about 'long lockdown'?"
Aggarwal, who is a lawyer, continued, "Is anyone thinking about our kids and the consequences of the last two years of school closures? The mood on my kid's school group is also very much towards keeping schools open since we can all see how much happier our kids are after school and buses have resumed. It is time we started dealing with Covid like other diseases. We have to live with covid. This singular focus on covid in schools and this advisory to shut down is extremely worrying."
With inputs from Abhinay Lakshman
