Schools and colleges have just about managed to bounce back this academic year with offline classes resuming over the past few months, but the emergence of COVID-19 clusters in educational institutions and the new Omicron variant of the virus has parents, students, and managements worried.
Some schools have appealed to parents to ensure that their children return straight back home after classes and not to mingle with friends outside the school campus. Others are batting for hybrid models of education involving offline and online learning.
D. Shashi Kumar, general secretary, Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools, said that while schools were following stringent measures laid down in the SOPs, they were unable to monitor lapses outside the campus. He also urged the Government to ensure that there were curbs and checks on tutorials where hundreds of students were made to sit in a single classroom without adequate social distancing.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister B.C. Nagesh said that he was aware that some private schools were also merging sections and conducting classes for over a hundred students at a time due to staff problems. “We will have a meeting on how to regulate this and think of solutions. I will also convene a meeting with department officials to discuss how residential schools and PU colleges can step up safety measures,” he said.
C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Higher Education Minister, said that educational institutions should allow only visitors who have received both doses of the vaccine.
Nooraine Fazal, founder-director of Inventure Academy, said that schools need to be prepared for a hybrid model, one that would allow them to switch between online and campus-based learning seamlessly. “Faculty members and students need to undergo sensitisation and training to ensure they maximise learning. The approach needs to ensure children are engaged, connected, challenged and happy,” she said.
Shweta Sharan, founder of Bangalore Schools, said: “This virus is here to stay and will be part of our lives for some time to come. As a parent, I would want schools and educational institutions to continue stringent safety protocols and to not let their guard down. As parents, we need to do our part too and adhere to these protocols. We need to stay safe and be vigilant,” she said. She too batted for hybrid schooling so that they could cut down risks by not eliminating in-person schooling altogether.
