‘Some of the COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Govt. impractical’
Physical classes for primary school students will start next week, a decision that has been welcomed by many. But, concerns remain about the resumption of schools and its modalities.
Parents union president Mullahalli Suri said that given recent developments that the Covaxin vaccine is being approved for children, it may be prudent to wait before resuming physical classes, vaccinating children . “These are young children and they may find it difficult to follow the COVID-19 Appropriate Behavior (CAB). Considering that 20 months have already been lost, waiting for a few more months would not have been an issue,” he said.
Noting that restarting schools is now a reality, he said the government guideline that only double immunized teachers would be allowed in classrooms was insufficient. “We prefer all teaching and non-teaching staff to be tested for COVID-19 and only those reporting negative should be allowed to work,” he suggested.
school welcome step
However, the school management has welcomed the move to resume physical classes, arguing that it was the need of the hour. Shweta Shastri, MD, Canada, said, “Young children need to come back to school as they are socially isolated since March 2020. The psychological impact of this has manifested in many children and unfortunately over the next few years, the will continue to do so.” International School.
D. Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools, welcomed the decision, but termed some of the guidelines issued by the government as “impractical”. “The guidelines stipulate that only 50% of the students can be allowed in the class and the minister has suggested a hybrid model of online and offline teaching, in which two batches of students attend physical classes on alternate days. We have tried this and failed with the higher classes. Neither the teachers can handle online and offline classes simultaneously, nor can we teach the same part twice and bear the cost of completing the syllabus. Students will have to compulsorily come to schools,” he said.
However, not all school managements hold this opinion. Aloysius D’Mello, principal of Greenwood High International School, said: “The rotating classroom day can help to practically balance online and offline learning while reducing the risk of infection”.
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