Parliament panel wants schools reopened, cites hazards
New Delhi, August 8
The Standing Committee on Education, Women and Children said in its report to Parliament this week that closure of schools due to Covid-induced lockdowns had aided child marriages and child labour and hazards of continued closure were too serious to be ignored.
Panel Suggests slew of measures
- Augmenting vaccine programmes for students, teachers and allied staff
- Holding classes on alternate days or two shifts
- Observing physical distancing and compulsory wearing of face masks
- Frequent hand sanitisation, regular thermal screening and random RT-PCR testing
- At least two oxygen concentrators per school with trained staff
- Frequent surprise inspections to ensure adherence to Covid protocol
- Introduction of best practices from across the world for reopening schools
Backing school reopening, the panel said, “The closure of schools has impacted the social fabric of families in a negative manner, leading to early marriages or child marriages and increased involvement of children in household chores. The present situation has exacerbated the learning crisis that existed even before the pandemic with the marginal and vulnerable children getting adversely affected.”
Not just the Parliament panel, the ICMR too has backed the idea saying children could handle viral infections better than adults, as shown by recent evidence.
The closure of schools for over a year had a deep impact on the wellbeing of students and their mental health, the panel chaired by BJP’s Vinay Sahasrabuddhe noted. It said the confinement of young children within the four walls of the house, where they were unable to attend school, had altered the relationship between the parent and the children adversely.
“The learning loss caused by school closure is a huge deficit and is likely to impair the cognitive capabilities of students. This might have a debilitating effect on vulnerable sections of the society like poor and rural students, marginalised sections of society and young women who might have been unable to connect to any form of digital education during the pandemic,” the panel said.
The ICMR today reiterated its green signal to reopening of schools.
“Children can handle viral infections better. Younger children have lesser ace receptors in the lungs, which the virus uses to bind to the cells. Our surveys tell us that the level of exposure of children is almost the same as adults. Also, Scandinavian nations did not close primary schools through any Covid wave. Our advice would be to open primary schools first and then the secondary sections but all staffers must be fully vaccinated before the schools can be reopened,” ICMR Director General Balram Bhagrava said. — TNS
