Covid-19 in Delhi: Schools wait for protocol, say closures will set back

Parents, meanwhile, continue to seek clarity on guidelines and protocols for schools. Sumit Vohra, a parent, whose children study in Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj, said that many parents had decided against sending children to school amid the rise in cases.

Schools in the city said they are waiting for directions and guidelines from the directorate of education (DoE) to act on positive Covid-19 cases on campus, adding that they hoped institutions are not required to be shut, and that closures will only exacerbate the learning gaps that have come about over the past two years.

Even as the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) plans to deliberate upon the return of the mask mandate in the Capital on Wednesday, some private schools resumed hybrid classes for students in primary classes as a precautionary measure. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times)

Sudha Acharya, chairperson of the National Progressive Schools’ Conference (NPSC), a consortium of over 120 Delhi schools, said that most schools were in favour of the uninterrupted continuation of classes. Acharya suggested that schools could enforce the mask mandate along with compliance with other Covid measures but a partial or complete closure of schools was unwarranted.

“We have hired drivers and conductors recently. Schools will incur massive losses if they are shut again or if we switch back to online classes. Closure of schools will be a death knell for us,” said Acharya, principal, ITL Public School, Dwarka. She added that board exams were starting next week and any decision to call off classes would create obstacles in the examination process.

However, even as the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) plans to deliberate upon the return of the mask mandate in the Capital on Wednesday, some private schools resumed hybrid classes for students in primary classes as a precautionary measure.

Father Agnel School, Gautam Nagar, is set to resume online classes from Wednesday for students in classes 1 to 5. In a circular addressed to parents on Tuesday, the school said, “To prevent any accidental infection, the school has decided to run online classes as well as offline classes for all grades from 1 to 5.” The school added that while parents could opt for online classes, there will be no refund of the school or transport fee.

“If the government decides to call off classes, conducting exams will become very difficult for us. We hope that the government takes an informed decision instead of a knee jerk reaction,” said Acharya.

Tania Joshi, principal of The Indian School, said that while the mask mandate needed to be brought back as a precautionary measure, most parents and teachers were opposed to the closure of schools due to the learning deficit that students were already grappling with. “We will follow the DoE’s direction but we really hope that no drastic measures are taken. Online is no longer an option since we are already dealing with a huge learning gap. Both teachers and parents understand that the previous learning gaps need to be plugged and offline classes are extremely crucial for that,” said Joshi.

Parents, meanwhile, continue to seek clarity on guidelines and protocols for schools. Sumit Vohra, a parent, whose children study in Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj, said that many parents had decided against sending children to school amid the rise in cases.

“Most people are waiting for guidelines from the government. However, parents continue to be concerned and anxious. Many of us are not sending children to school and waiting for clarity on the Covid situation,” said Vohra.