E-Paper
Ghaziabad: Parents’ body writes to DM to not reopen schools till September 30
Ghaziabad:
Ghaziabad:
The members of Ghaziabad Parents’ Association (GPA) have written to the district magistrate to defer reopening of schools till September 30 due to high incidence of Covid-19 cases in the district.
In an online survey conducted by the association, 97% of the parents who participated said that they are not in favour of reopening the schools in July. The survey had 2,106 responses about the issue, the association said.
Ghaziabad has witnessed a sudden spurt in Covid-19 cases this month. In a period of 20 days since June 1, the district has added to its tally 548 positive cases and 38 deaths. Overall, the total positive cases stood at 853 till June 20, which included 42 deaths.
“The parents are alarmed by the situation. So, we have written to the district magistrate not to reopen schools till September 30. The Covid-19 cases are on the rise and it will be difficult to manage situation in schools with thousands of children studying together. The online survey had a question whether the schools should reopen in July or not. About 97% of the respondents opposed the idea,” said Seema Tyagi, president of GPA.
Tyagi said that it will not be practically possible for schools to ensure that children maintain social distancing, and don’t share food, among other things. “Above all, we don’t have a vaccine yet to deal with Covid-19. In case children get infected, it will be very difficult to keep them in isolation. The monsoon season is approaching and it brings in a number of viral diseases,” she added.
In its Unlock 1.0 guidelines issued on May 30, the Union ministry of home affairs had stated that schools, colleges, educational institutions, etc will be reopened after consultations with states and Union Territories in July. State governments and UT administrations may hold consultations at the institution level with parents and other stakeholders, the ministry had said in a statement.
When asked, Ghaziabad district magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said he has been receiving representations from parents for not allowing opening of schools. “We will soon hold a review meeting and write to the state government about the issues concerning parents. It will be an overall decision which will be taken up by the state government,” Pandey added.
Further, the reopening of colleges will also be a tricky situation for Ghaziabad authorities as about 13 different colleges in the district have been proposed to have Covid care facilities as part of state government’s plan to deal with rising number of cases. In Ghaziabad, the health department has proposed 4,000 Covid beds at 13 colleges.
In a related case, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court on June 15 ordered the state government to take a decision in larger public interest. The court’s decision arrived on a petition seeking closure of schools up to class 12 till a single patient of Covid-19 remains or its vaccine comes in the market.
The directions were issued by the Bench of justices Devendra Kumar Updhyay and Narendra Kumar on a writ petition filed by Anuj Nishad, a student.
“With regard to the prayer made in this writ petition, this court is clearly of the opinion that the issue raised herein should be considered by the government itself. Accordingly, we direct the state government to consider the grievance raised in this writ petition and take a decision thereon,” the court had said in its order.
