Closure of schools will have devastating consequences for children: Education body

The group noted that a number of governments including Delhi had ordered the closure of schools while others were planning to do so despite the fact that schools had only opened recently after remaining mostly closed since March 2020

The National Coalition on the Education Emergency, a consortium of individuals and organisations that work on Right to Education and have been advocating for the reopening of schools, on Tuesday said that the closure of schools would have devastating consequences for children.

Last week, the Delhi government ordered the closure of all schools as it implemented the yellow alert of its Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) amid a spike in Covid-19 cases. (Representational image/HT Archive)

The group noted that a number of governments including Delhi had ordered the closure of schools while others were planning to do so despite the fact that schools had only opened recently after remaining mostly closed since March 2020. Schools in Delhi had reopened for students of all grades in November last year. Last week, the Delhi government ordered the closure of all schools as it implemented the yellow alert of its Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) amid a spike in Covid-19 cases.

“It is evident that the absence of structured learning opportunities has caused severe academic regression, young children have forgotten habits of learning; basic reading and numeracy skills have been affected, and we are seeing a huge dropout as a result,” the group said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

“Complete lockdown has severely affected our economy and jobs earlier. School lockdown will similarly harm our children, and that too, over the long term. Keeping schools open is necessary to reduce this serious harm and resume the processes of learning. Schools must be the last to close and the first to open,” read the statement issued by the group.

While outlining that online classes had not been very effective, the group said that “online education will continue to be a meaningless ‘option’.

Suraj Kumar, educationist and one of the signatories, said that a vast majority of children did not have access to online classes and was being deprived of learning due to the prolonged closure of schools. Kumar said that it was crucial to reopen schools for children to learn and grow under the guidance of teachers. “Online education cannot be a replacement for school. People in cities might still have phones but in villages and many other remote areas, most people don’t have access to smartphones. Children are losing precious time due to the closure of schools,” said Kumar.

The group also suggested using a graded response to the coronavirus waves. It said that schools in urban areas can be asked to operate at 50% capacity while following Covid-19 protocols when the test positivity rate crosses 5%. If the test positivity rate crosses 10%, medium-sized schools can be asked to function with staggered timings. It said that widespread school closure should only be considered if a large number of severe cases affected children. The group also proposed that in-person attendance should be encouraged but not made compulsory so that parents are not forced to send children to school.