Don’t shut schools yet, say experts to Odisha government

BHUBANESWAR: Experts and educationists have suggested the state government should not be in a hurry to shut down schools despite the rising number of Covid-19 cases being reported from educational institutions forcing them to stop offline classes and creating apprehension among parents.
The closure of schools for over 18 months due to the pandemic has caused a serious adverse impact on the academic, mental, and physical growth of students, they said.
“The fear among parents is not unnatural but it should not be a pretext to close down schools. Children who are getting infected are not coming to the school. We don’t know from where they got the virus. Instead of closing the schools, the government should ensure proper adherence to Covid guidelines because shutdown is not an option at this point of time,” said educationist Pritish Acharya.
He said it is evident from the last two waves of the pandemic that the coronavirus has not affected children severely so far but the loss due to closure of schools has been colossal and irreversible.
In the past fortnight over 200 students of different educational institutions in the state have tested Covid positive. The state government has allowed reopening of schools from classes VI to XII in a phased manner.
“We won’t be surprised if the government decides to close down schools as the cases start rising. But instead of closing down schools, I would suggest the government to take steps for checking the spread of infection by conducting classes in shifts or on alternate days for students,” said academic Kamala Prasad Mohapatra.
Following the detection of cases of the new Omicron variant, the fear of a third wave has increased and the attendance of students has gone down in educational institutions.
“The fear of Covid has increased among students leading to thin attendance in schools. Many parents are not sending children to schools. As board exams for classes X and XII are continuing, many schools have cancelled offline exam for other students,” said Sudhir Kumar Sahu, a teacher in a private school in the city.
Doctors, however, advised everybody to wear masks and maintain social distance to prevent Covid infection.
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