Normalizing Schools with Normalizing Lives?
3 min read
With the number of cases dropping in India, businesses, and people are coming back to living a new normal life with Masks and Sanitizers. With the world coming back to normal, even schools and colleges started coming back to normal after almost 11 months.
Schools for X and XII opened on 19th January 2021. The public health department led out rules to be followed by the schools reopening. Regular screening of the students and distribution of Multivitamins will be done to boost the immune of the students. Other SOPs include providing sanitizers in each class, keeping the campus clean, and having facilities for washing hands. Detail of mobile medical units will be shared with all the schools for the students who are showing COVID-19 like symptoms.
Delhi the government allowed all the schools outside containment zones to call students of X and XII from 18th January 2021. Keeping the visit optional and at the consent of the parents. No assemblies and physical outdoor activities will be held during this period.
The schools can decide upon the strength to be called based on the space. But the fear seems to continue among the students and parents as only 40% of the students showed up on the second day.
Schools of Odisha open way before the schools in other states on 8th January 2021 but it resulted in 31 teachers and students testing positive for COVID 19 in Gajapati District. Though all those tested positives are asymptomatic.
Schools reopened even in cities of Rajasthan like Jaipur from 18th January 2021. But only 40% of students showed up in private schools whereas 50% showed up in government schools. Many schools are not running the school transportation services for the students both for safety and also as it is not economical to run buses for such a limited number of students which further is pushing down the number as only students who can come in their private vehicles are coming to school.
Gujarat when started with their schools found 11 students out of 112 randomly tested positive with the rapid antigen test on the first day itself.
3 of the 11 are the inmates of the school’s hostel. The schools still seem to continue with stricter norms like wearing masks the whole time, using sanitizers, and asking facilities to wash hands.
Maharashtra still showing the highest number of cases in India had decided to open schools for students from class V to VIII but the same has been ruled out by BMC until further notice.
Education Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal said that the schools and colleges will continue to deliver online lectures even when the schools are open and working. Considering the space in schools only a certain percentage of the students are expected to visit the school while others can attend online.
Though the world is trying to come back to normal many activities like schooling seem difficult to be held unless a huge portion of the population is vaccinated which itself might take a long time.
