Sunday, 19 September 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The decision of the Uttarakhand government to reopen primary schools from September 21 has met with a guarded response from the parents and the experts. On Friday the education minister Arvind Pandey had announced that all primary schools in Uttarakhand would be opened. The Education department released the set of guidelines for opening schools on Saturday. On one hand the parents of the children are relieved that their wards would attend the schools after a long interval of one and half years; the concern for the safety is also discernible.
Shalini Bisht, a resident of Raipur road said, “It is good that the schools are starting after a long time. The online classes which at present are going on cannot be a substitute for a real classroom. The mental and physical development of the children is getting affected due to their long stay inside the house. I am ready to send my daughter to the school but want the school to follow all the safety guidelines,’’ she said.
Sachin Sharma of Banjarawala was of the view that the government should have waited for at least a month as the experts are warning about the third wave of the pandemic of Covid-19. He said that though most of the teachers have got vaccinated, the vaccination of children below 18 years has not started yet.
The national president of the National Association for Parents and Students Right (NAPSR), Arif Khan said that it is really surprising that the government has decided to open the colleges from October 1 but wants the students of primary classes to come to the schools from September 21. He added that the government itself is issuing guidelines for Covid- 19 which means that the pandemic is still there and sending children to schools is a risky preposition.
The founder of Social Development for Communities (SDC) foundation, Anoop Nautiyal said that the schools are closed for one and half years and their closure is affecting the overall development and upbringing of the children. He said that though it would be impractical to hope that small kids would follow the Covid-19 protocol but added that the schools and teachers should be more watchful. He said that about one crore doses of the vaccines have been administered in the state and about 25 lakh people have received both doses which makes it comparatively safe to open the school.
