Should schools, colleges be reopened amid the rising cases?

Radhika Bansal, Ground Report:

According to the guidelines issued by Ministry of Home Affairs, the decision on reopening the educational institutions will be taken in phase two of Unlock 1 after consultations with states and union territories in the month of July. Parents and educational institutes will be consulted before taking any decisions. Government will be allowing the reopening of the educational institutions from July only after detailed discussions with parents and the institutions.

COVID – 19 is spreading rapidly in India since the lockdown has been eased. We can see a rapid growth of 5000 – 6000 Corona positive cases on the daily basis. If schools, colleges and other educational institutions will be opened then the government would have to resume the metro services as most of the college students across Delhi – NCR travel through metro. We all know the condition of metro and how tightly packed it is at the peak hours. It will be very difficult for the authorities as well as the commuters to maintain social distance in the metro or any other public transport.

Primary school going childrent are innocent and wont be able to maintain social distancing. Even in the classrooms it would be very difficult for the school authorities and teachers to help these children to maintain social distance everytime. It is equally difficult for the seniors students too.

Even if the schools and colleges would reopen in August or September, social distancing must be strictly followed all the times. People should avoid making any physical contact with other people and must wear masks and gloves every time they step outside their houses.
Moreover, they should avoid going in canteens or play any group sports just as a precautionary measure to keep themselves safe from COVID – 19. Until then everyone is having online classes and after 3 months I guess most of us are comfortable with these online classes and work from home schedule.

Everything have its pros and cons. If we will focus on the brighter side of online classes we can see how effective they are and in this time of technology, it is helping us in so many ways.
Let’s look forward towards the brighter future of the students and hope everything will be back to normal sooner or later.

You can connect with Ground Report on Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp, and mail us at [email protected] to send us your suggestions and writeups.