BENGALURU: Educationists in Karnataka are urging the government to reopen schools in a phased manner. In a statement, at least 18 education and health experts stated that it is absolutely essential that the complete school lockdown be reversed.
Pointing out that this doesn’t mean that all schools have to go back to the pre-pandemic normal, they said school opening needs to be phased, and various classes/sections can open on different days, and school timings can be limited and staggered.
“These measures can keep the number of students at levels that allow for physical distancing. Water, soap, sanitiser, thermal sensors, masks must be provided to schools in adequate quantities by the government, along with support from local health centres, to allow for a hygienic environment. This is a necessary investment to keep our children safe."
“Even two days a week with limited hours of schooling is a huge improvement over not having school at all, or having some version of online education,” the statement said.
Education expert Dr Niranjanaradhya V P stated that rejecting the Vidyagama scheme could prove fatal for children of economically weaker sections of society. He stated that with families affected by the pandemic, government schools not only provide education, but also act as nurturing centres, providing hot milk, midday meals, health checks etc.
“This is not a good sign. Their minimum support has been taken away. About 37% of the state’s population comprises children, and those affected by Covid is less than 1%. I urge the Chief Minister and education minister to restart the programme,” Niranjanaradhya told TNIE.
“With or without lockdown, the number of Covid cases is not going to be much different because we don’t have systems in place to address a pandemic. We need to work on health education, sanitation, personal hygiene and other protective measures."
“If the number of cases in children goes up, the solution is to ensure better public health education, that children wash hands, and safe distance is adopted. The solution is not to shut down all systems that offer education to children.
“The fact that many of these children are also from vulnerable communities means that there are multiple barriers to education. It’s time the government addressed these rather than just washing hands,” says Dr Sylvia Karpagam, Public Health doctor and researcher.
"We are not insisting on compulsory physical classroom presence for MBA students from November 2. But if some students want to be present on campus, they will be allowed in classroom sessions, library, computer labs, and also to meet teachers to clear doubts, with sufficient safeguards. We don’t want to inconvenience students.’Fr Daniel SJ, Principal, St Joseph’s College of Commerce."