‘Schools free to decide on partial or full closure if infections arise’: Sisodia

Sisodia, who is also state education minister, was speaking a day after five students and two teachers at a private school in Vasant Kunj were reported to have been infected and said the government had prepared guidelines and told schools they could cordon off and close “some affected areas” if needed.

The state government is likely to release detailed guidelines for schools to tackle Covid-19 outbreak among students, even as deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said institutions were at liberty to decide whether to shut a classroom, a wing, or entire campuses in the event of infections.

The pandemic that began in early 2020 hit schooling particularly hard, leading to widespread learning losses and robbing children of social contact crucial for their formative years. (File photo)

Sisodia, who is also state education minister, was speaking a day after five students and two teachers at a private school in Vasant Kunj were reported to have been infected and said the government had prepared guidelines and told schools they could cordon off and close “some affected areas” if needed.

“We have told schools that if any student tests positive for Covid-19 or if a teacher in a particular wing test positive, the wing or class should be temporarily closed for a few days. They can be reopened later. We have not said the entire school should be closed. If a situation arises where a teacher or principal has interacted with people spread across the entire school premises, then they can take a decision. We have decentralised the decision-making process and told all schools that if a report emerges from anywhere, they should immediately inform the directorate of education (DoE),” Sisodia said during a press conference on Friday.

“The state is likely to issue detailed guidelines on school closures in the event of positive Covid-19 cases on campus,” said a senior state government official, who asked not to be named. There are no plans to mandate schools to close in the event of an outbreak, this person added.

DoE, in an advisory on Thursday, said specific wings of the school, or the whole school, could be closed, if a positive Covid-19 case emerged on campus, even as it stressed on the need for mask compliance, distancing and other mitigation measures.

Sudha Acharya, the chairperson of the National Progressive Schools’ Conference (NPSC), which has over 120 Delhi schools as members, said that the DoE had only issued an advisory so far. “We have received an advisory as per which the decision pertaining to school closure rests with the schools. We are also of the view that closure of education institutes is not required right now and schools can take decisions based on their assessment. Children are anyway stepping out for all activities so closure of schools will not have any effect on the spread of the infection,” said Acharya.

The pandemic that began in early 2020 hit schooling particularly hard, leading to widespread learning losses and robbing children of social contact crucial for their formative years. Experts have advised authorities to be careful of taking any knee-jerk actions when it comes to schools, especially since there is already widespread vaccination in general and children are inherently at a lower risk from the coronavirus than adults.