Himachal schools body urges govt to reopen schools

Our Correspondent

Nurpur, January 24

The Himachal Pradesh Independent School Association has criticised the state government for extending the vacation of children from January 26 to 31.

Gulshan Kumar, state president of the association, said here today that the government should immediately reopen schools with strict adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour. He added that the prolonged closure of schools had badly affected the health and psychology of children.

He said that parents were mounting pressure on private school managements to reopen their institutions as their wards were facing eyesight and psychological problems while attending online classes at home and using mobile phones for hours.

Gulshan said that recently, World Bank’s Global Education Director Jaime Saavedra had claimed that there was no justification in keeping schools closed in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Saavedra, whose team has been tracking the impact of Covid-19 on the education sector, states that there is no evidence that the reopening of schools caused a surge in Covid cases,” he added.

When the government had allowed hassle-free entry of tourists, besides allowing public transport, bars, restaurants, there was no justification in keeping schools closed for such a long time.