Delhi schools scale up Covid jab drives to speed up reopening

The government shared that around 85% students of Delhi government schools in the age group of 15-18 years have received the first dose of the vaccine till January 21; however, private schools were lagging behind

With the Delhi government focusing on complete vaccination coverage of students ahead of a possible reopening of schools, private schools in the national capital have increased their efforts to scale up vaccination of their students. Last week, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said 100% vaccination of students could pave way for the reopening of schools.

A health worker administers Covid-19 vaccine at a government school in New Delhi. (AP)

The government shared that around 85% students of Delhi government schools in the age group of 15-18 years have received the first dose of the vaccine till January 21; however, private schools were lagging behind.

While schools said \they were focusing on inoculation, they stressed on resuming in-person classes for children of all grades, regardless of their vaccination status.

Bharat Arora, general secretary, Action Committee of Unaided Private Schools, a consortium of private schools, said the government has increased the number of vaccination centres in private schools over the past three days and that is expected to improve the vaccination coverage among students.

“Around 40-50 more private schools are conducting vaccinations on campus now. Now, the percentage of vaccinated students is around 60%. By next week, that figure may rise to 75-80%. This will ensure that both private and government schools are able to reopen together by February,” said Arora.

He said schools were collaborating with the district administration to ensure that the vaccination coverage touches 80% by the end of the month. “We are vaccinating students in the eligible category but the government should reopen schools for students of all classes; as a full reopening is the need of the hour,” said Arora.

Sudha Acharya, the chairperson of the National Progressive School Conference (NPSC) that has 122 Delhi schools as members, including Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Bal Bharati Public School, Springdales School, Sanskriti School, Delhi Public Schools, Ahlcon International School, and Amity International School, said the government has directed schools to complete the vaccination campaign soon so that a proposal for reopening could be placed before the DDMA (Delhi Disaster Management Authority).

Acharya said while schools were striving to achieve maximum vaccination, it was crucial to reopen schools for children of all grades for the learning cycle to get back on track. “There are some children who contracted Covid recently. There will be a waiting period for them. Some parents might not be ready to get their children vaccinated as yet. We will be well placed if the government reopens for students of grades 9-12, but the reopening for children of other grades cannot be put off for long,” said Acharya, principal of ITL Public School, Dwarka.

She said it was important for the government to tighten norms regarding in-person attendance in schools for all grades to ensure uninterrupted learning. “So many states have reopened schools for children in all classes. Our children will continue to miss out unless the government takes steps to ensure in-person attendance in schools,” said Acharya.

The sentiment was echoed by other stakeholders. Citing the Maharashtra government’s decision to reopen schools, Tania Joshi, principal of The Indian School, said schools will not be able to resume classes as before as long as the government gave parents the option to opt for online classes.

“After two years of the pandemic, it’s high time that schools are reopened for all children. As long as the government continues to give parents the choice between online and offline classes, it is unlikely that learning will get back on track. Over the past two years, some children have gradually gotten used to online learning. We need to come out of that inertia,” said Joshi.