Kakinada: Parents urge government to declare 'Zero academic year'

Kakinada: Urging the government to declare 2020-21 academic year as "Zero year" Kakinada Parents committee has urged both the Central and state governments not to open the schools and not allow online education, keeping the difficulties of rural and agency students and problems being faced by them due to pandemic situation caused by the Covid -19. As the state government planning to reopen the schools on November 2, the parents are worried a lot and they were in dilemma whether to send children to school or not.

Kakinada Parents Committee president and psychologist A P J Vinu said that the Central government's decision to open schools when the pandemic was at its peak is really terrorising parents and students.

He said that many students in the USA and other Western countries were infected after the opening of schools and even at ZP high school, Vizianagaram district many students were tested positive after attending schools.

He said the state government was under pressure from private school managements to open schools as many political leaders are directly or indirectly running schools.

Vinu said many children can't sit for long hours in masks and classrooms are too small for social distancing and in the process of education, the children will contract the virus due to lack of proper sanitation measures in schools.

He said that parents were not able to pay school fees as their salaries were cut due to Covid-19.

Kandiveena Sampathi Narasimhulu, a parent says if their children fall sick due to Covid-19, they are not able to pay huge hospital bills. He added many parents were living in agony and depression as they don't have work since Covid pandemic struck in March. Akella Parvateswar Rao, a parent asked why the government is in such a hurry to open everything when cases are increasing every day.

Giduturi Sanjeev Rao, a parent, questioned "will any parent knowingly send children to school and make them sick. Why is the government so keen to open schools when parents are not willing to send children to school, without vaccination for Covid-19."

Another parent G Hymavathi urged the government not to open schools until a vaccine was administered to children.