Reopening schools in phases would be a good decision

We believe the government's discussion to reopen schools on a limited scale giving priority to the SSC and HSC students is a prudent move. The plan in consideration is to get this year's SSC and HSC examinees to the classroom first. According to a report quoting a high official of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, work has been completed on reducing the syllabus and this has been submitted to the education ministry. This too is a wise decision that will take into consideration the disruption in studies for students during the pandemic.

While it is crucial for students to get back to school the government is rightly concerned about the risks involved and according to an official of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, decisions to reopen will take into account pandemic situation and directives.

Even if the reopening is done in phases with only Class 10 and 12 students coming to school in the first phase, the issues of safety must take priority. This means mandatory mask wearing and physical distancing as well as proper facilities for handwashing, clean bathrooms and regular sanitising of the classrooms and other areas of the schools. Given the state of most schools in both the cities and rural areas, this will be a challenging task. For this reason everyone must be sensitised from the teachers, administrators, students to the school staff to the parents regarding the importance of following these guidelines. Unfortunately we have seen how people disregard these rules in public places and many are not quite convinced of the seriousness of the spread of Covid-19 infections. Rigorous awareness campaigns have to be started through every kind of media and public platform.   While we understand why the government is giving priority to SSC and HSC students we hope that students of other classes are also being considered in these discussions as most of them have suffered a huge gap in their education. This is because most students have not been able to avail the remote learning facilities introduced in these last eleven months, as they did not have access to devices such as TVs, computers, laptops or smart phones. Internet access was also not the same in all areas with some having no access at all. These are realities that the government must address as the pandemic is still here and it may be a while before all classes can be held in the classroom. To reopen without ensuring that the resources and facilities to allow for full compliance of health guidelines can be met may have grave consequences. Therefore while the government tries to implement these measures and reopen in phases it must also make remote learning a more viable option. This requires intense discussions with education experts, teachers, BTV and internet service providers so that learning does not stop while students wait for schools to reopen.