DDMA's Decision Not To Open Schools In Delhi Has Dismayed School Principals And Parent Organisations
Update: 2022-01-29 12:30 IST
The DDMA's decision on Thursday not to resume schools in Delhi disappointed school administrators and parents' organisations, who said that keeping schools closed is no longer an option. According to Ashok Agarwal, president of the All India Parents Association (AIPA), the decision makers have neither heart nor head because the prolonged closures will encourage and perpetuate class separation and inequality in education.
He continued that students' studies and childhoods have already been harmed in ways that are irreversible. There is no scientific reasons for closing schools. It has resulted in a reduction in employment and a rise in hunger among the population. So many folks are sitting at home doing nothing while waiting for schools to reopen.
Sumedha Goel, director of The Shri Ram Wonder Years, Rohini, advised that junior high schools should be resumed in stages, with the virtual concept at its foundation.
Closing the schools is not a viable option. To achieve holistic growth, a blossoming youngster wants social connection, food for the mind and soul, emotional well-being, and so on, just as a seedling requires the correct quantity of water, sunlight, and air to flourish. In order to welcome back children and provide them with a conducive environment for growth and development, schools will implement covid-appropriate behaviour. We recommend that the government enact obligatory vaccination legislation and punish non-vaccinated adults.
The drive would benefit youngsters under the age of 15, according to Goel, who also stated that the entire school personnel should be properly vaccinated, and that school areas would be sanitised every two weeks.
Schools and institutions in the national capital will stay closed, officials said on Thursday, and the subject will be discussed at the next meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA). The Delhi administration, for its part, urged that schools be reopened, claiming that it was important to prevent undue harm to children's social and economic well-being now that the COVID-19 situation in the capital had improved.
The pandemic years, according to Anshu Mittal, principal of MRG School in Rohini, have unquestionably shown people the necessity to change curriculum and pedagogical practises.
Every other country has opened schools; the educators are profoundly concerned about our students' lack of access to education. They expect vaccination for children to become a reality shortly, now that immunisation for the age group of 15-18 has begun. Ideally, a large portion of the adult population would have received their booster shot by that time.
The schools were momentarily reopened before being closed again on December 28 of last year because to the third wave of COVID-19, which was caused by the Omicron strain.
Tanya Agarwal, a lawyer who has advocated for the reopening of schools, agreed and concluded made today is really disheartening. The DDMA's chairperson and members should publicly explain why schools are closed but everything else is allowed, especially when every expert body has advised it.
According to a poll done by online platform Local Circles, 74 percent of Delhi parents oppose school reopening at this time, while 66 percent say schools should reopen until the test positive rate (TPR) drops to 2% or lower.
Modern Public School's administrator, Alka Kapur, said that eighty-five percent of pupils have been vaccinated, and a campaign to vaccinate children of various ages will begin in April. She don't think it will be an issue if they open the schools now, as long as they take necessary safeguards.There is a significant difference between classroom and online learning. Interactivity, social contacts, and hands-on learning are all important aspects of education, which can only be provided in a classroom setting.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia stated that online education can never replace classroom learning, adding that the government had shuttered schools when it was not safe for children, but that over-vigilance was harming them. While a group of parents led by Chandrakant Lahariya, an epidemiologist and public policy expert, had previously visited with Sisodia and presented him with a letter signed by over 1,600 parents urging that the schools be reopened.