Education

Is the opening of schools surging the cases of the Covid-19 virus?

Is the opening of schools surging the cases of the Covid-19 virus?

A lot has changed over the years because of the occurrence of the covid-19 pandemic. The way people have lived their lives has completely changed. Most of the working institutions and schools or colleges have remained closed for a duration of two years. The students have attended their classes via the online platform. However, as most of the citizens of the country are now vaccinated with two doses, the government decided to open the institutions so that work can be carried out full-fledged. But, did the opening of schools have caused the government bigger harm? What are the consequences that the country is facing?

School

Before we move on with the article, let us first get into the fact why opening schools was important.

Why were educational institutions really opened?

In India, most people prefer the offline mode of education. It is the most convenient method of studying. This is because of the fact that offline education allows the direct face-to-face interaction of teachers with their students. This leads to a better understanding of the topics taught. Moreover. When the children are studying from school, they are able to concentrate better without distractions.

Hence, the world has digitalized a lot within these years. Our technology has changed and various platforms such as Google Meet, Zoom have provided features so that teaching can be improved in the online mode. But, it cannot replace the conventional method of offline education. India is a developing country. It means that most parts of the population suffer from acute poverty. So, it is not financially possible for every parent to be able to afford a smartphone for his child to complete his or her education. Even though the families own a smartphone, most of the places have poor connectivity.

The online platforms require higher quality data to operate perfectly. This has created a problem among the students.

The covid-19 pandemic has also affected the salary package of the teachers who are operating from the comfort of their homes. Most of the private educational institutions have reduced the salary of the teachers by a certain percentage compared to what they were paid before. This is also evidence of the fact that the school could not gather much revenue during the pandemic situation.

The examinations were conducted online for the last two years and most of the students performed exceptionally well. The students who could not pass the exam had accumulated an aggregate of 70 to 80% in the online examinations conducted by their respective educational institutions. This has destructed the overall pupil-to-teacher ratio of the class.

One of the important scenarios is that during the Central Board of Secondary Education Matriculation Examination, India recorded a pass percentage of above 90% as the students were given marks based on an average. But, the number of seats in colleges is fixed and if the seats are increased, it would not be able to accommodate all the students who have given the examination. 

This has created a bigger problem for the students. So, the state government has opened the educational institutions and chances are that the major examination will be conducted in an offline mode so that it does not give rise to the same difficulty.

Consequences of Opening the Schools?

As for now, the vaccination is available to individuals only at an age of 18 years or above. All the students below this age are not vaccinated. This means that their body will not be able to provide them protection against the life-threatening Covid-19 virus.

Recently, Karnataka has recorded a total of 138 students were tested positive against the Covid-19 strain of the virus. The reports were gathered from SDM College of Medical Sciences at Sattur, Dharwad in Karnataka. 

This called for action by the district administration. They closed the campus and sanitized the area well. Samples of 1800 students were further collected to see the implications of the strain of the virus.

The same instance was observed in the state of Punjab. The government school that is situated in Palahar in Talwara block at Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district was closed after 13 students were affected by the covid-19 virus. All the students who were infected belonged from the age group of 16 or below. The health minister has laid down strict protocols to prevent the outbreak of the disease. The entire campus was sanitized properly. It has been stated by the officials that the people were not following the wearing of masks strictly. 

The Rajasthan Government has taken necessary action in response to the rising covid situation in the state. The state has declared that schools should provide online education to students who are unable to attend classes physically. The students who are willing to join have to bring their parents’ consent. 

The rule of ‘do gaj door’ has to be strictly followed. Also, the schools should be closed for ten days.

It has been brought to the notice about the increasing covid cases. As students, the main responsibility is to strictly abide by the covid-19 protocols. And the institutions should conduct the classes at a 50% capacity. His would help in proper distancing from the mass and help to reduce the cases of the infections.

edited and proofread by nikita sharma 

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