The physical attendance for Class 1-5 and Classes 8, 10 and 12 of government and private schools in Chhattisgarh will resume from Monday with 50 percent attendance amid apprehension of a possible third wave. Colleges and schools were shut in the state since March last year. The study for class 6, 7, 9, and 11 will go on via online mode.
A key parents’ body has opined that government has taken the decision of reopening of schools in haste and advised parents to exercise extreme caution while sending their wards for physical classes. Government has made it clear that schools will conduct physical classes only in the districts having COVID-19 positivity rate not more than one percent for past one week. The classrooms and entire school complex will be santitized and all stricter Covid-19 protocols will be followed. More than 600 observers across the state have been deployed to ensure strict enforcement of Covid protocols. However, a state-level body of parents of school students has opposed the move saying the government should have waited for some more time before allowing the schools to reopen, in view of the possible third wave of the pandemic. The decision to reopen schools was taken during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel recently.
The students attending physical classes will have to do so on alternate days and those suffer from cough, cold and fever will not be allowed to attend the school. Online classes will also be run for school students and there will be no compulsion to attend the off-line classes.
However, the decision has not gone down well with the parents' association, which said the state government should reconsider the decision.
"The third wave of coronavirus is likely in August and therefore the decision to reopen schools should have been taken next month," said Kristopher Paul, President of Chhattisgarh Parents Association (CPA). Besides, the ongoing monsoon season also causes viral diseases among children and therefore, the government should have waited, he said and alleged that the government has taken the decision in a haste to benefit the private school owners.
