RANCHI: Even after Union Health Ministry’s advisory to cancel all seminars and conferences in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, Jharkhand education minister Jagarnath Mahto declared that classes in schools and colleges will continue as usual in the state since it was not witnessed any case of the pandemic.
Notably, the state government on Friday suspended the popular ‘Sarkar Aapkey Dwar’ programme in all districts till April 15 and exempted government employees from biometric attendance in the wake of the prevailing coronavirus situation in the rest of the country. “A review meeting of Chief Secretary with Health department was held on the issue of coronavirus. Since nobody in the State has been found infected with the virus, schools and colleges will remain open as usual till orders,” tweeted the education minister.
Teachers, however, believe that the state government must pay heed to the advisory before the disease spreads in Jharkhand.
“Since it is an infectious disease which spreads very fast even by touching each other, children in schools and colleges are the most vulnerable to it. Hence, taking immediate action, the State Government should order closure of schools and colleges from immediate effect,” said Naseem Ahmed, principal of a government school in Ranchi.