Health experts sound note of caution on opening of schools

Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 10

The Haryana Government’s decision to open schools from July 16 has triggered a debate over the safety of children, with health experts sounding a note of caution and teachers’ bodies saying the move was long-awaited.

The state government had yesterday announced to open schools for classes IX to XII from July 16 and for classes VI to VIII from July 23.

“We must bear in mind that the second wave of Covid has not gone yet and the talks of a third wave coming anytime in August or September are already on. States such as Kerala and Maharashtra are still reporting a large number of new cases. In such a scenario, we need to be extra cautious as the lowering of guard can prove disastrous for the state,” said a health expert associated with the management of Covid.

Chander Navdeep Bharti, state president of the Haryana Vidhyalaya Adhyapak Sangh, however, welcomed the government move and said steps such as Covid-appropriate behaviour, sanitisation of schools and speedy vaccination of teachers must be ensured.

“The pandemic has impacted the health of people and left many dead. It has also affected studies of children. While the government has taken steps to improve health infrastructure and provide treatment to those infected, nothing was being done for children who are practically imprisoned in their homes. Opening of the schools is very important. It is for the government to decide whether to run these on full strength or at half strength,” said Bharti.

Kanwar Pal Gujjar, Haryana Education Minister, said the decision to open schools had been taken only after assessing the pandemic situation.

“In most of the districts, either no new cases are being reported or infections are being reported in single digit. We have to strike a balance between the safety and education of the students. If some parents don’t think it is safe to send their children to schools, they are free to not send. The teachers will not mark them absent,” said Gujjar.

When asked whether the government will ensure that the teachers and non-teaching staff were vaccinated before they attended the schools, the minister said though there were no such guidelines, most of the teachers had already been vaccinated.