As cases rise, parents wary of sending kids to schools even if they reopen a month later

With schools and authorities getting ready with plans to reopen educational institutions sometime in July, parents across the national capital are not in favour

With schools and authorities getting ready with plans to reopen educational institutions sometime in July, parents across the national capital are not in favour of sending children back to schools, even in July, as cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) have been rising in the national capital by the day.

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A cross section of parents HT spoke to on Tuesday said with cases likely to peak in July, going by the present trend, they were wary of sending their wards to school till a vaccination is found for the disease or till the infaction curve flattens in the national capital.

Delhi has had over 22,000 cases and 556 deaths till now. Over the last few days, Delhi has seen a record number of cases with the highest ever spike on Tuesday with an increase of 1298 cases in the past 24 hours.

An average 968 new cases were reported every day in the last seven days. In the seven days before this, this number was 571, and it was 403 the week before that.

The National Council for Education, Research and Training (NCERT) has already suggested conducting classes in shifts to avoid crowding and curtailing group activities involving the use of common instruments or equipment, among other restrictions. The Delhi government, too, has asked all principals to prepare “micro plans” for opening schools in consultation with teachers, parents, and school management committees.

Many parents, however, are wary of sending their children to schools in July – when a peak in cases is expected. Vikas Sharma, whose children study in classes 5 and 1 at DAV Public School, said, “We don’t want schools to reopen till a vaccination is found for Covid-19. A year without education is better than the threat of losing our children.”

The Nangloi resident, who has his own business, said, “Most of the parents I have interacted with don’t want this experiment to be done on their children. We won’t send them even if schools decide to reopen.”

Rajesh Jha, father of a class 8 student of a government school in Shalimar Bagh, said, “The kind of spike in cases we are seeing now is worrying. Unless there is a drop in cases and the chain is broken, we won’t send our children to school. We are just monitoring the situation and will take a call accordingly.”

Aparajita Gautam, president of Delhi Parents Association, said parent WhatsApp groups have been abuzz with discussions on the matter. “When adults are finding it hard to maintain social distancing, how can we expect children to do so? Schools will not take the responsibility of our children falling ill.” The association recommends declaring a “zero year” for all classes, except class 12 students.

“There were reported cases of Covid-19 among children once schools reopened in France even after maintaining physical distancing. Even South Korea reported a spike in cases. In view of all this, parents are concerned. There has been no consultations with parents so far in this matter,” she said.

A petition on change.org, a popular petition website, started by a group called Parents Association urges the Union minister of human resource development to continue the current academic session in the e-learning mode. The petition has nearly 4,20,000 signatories from all over the country so far.

Bharat Arora, general secretary of the action committee of unaided recognized private schools, said, “We would like to assure parents that schools will open only after the government allows us. Once open, the safety of every child will be our priority. In addition to standard operating procedures provided by authorities, we are encouraging schools to have their own SOPs for the safety of children.”

Director of education Binay Bhushan said, “The Delhi government hasn’t taken any decision on when schools will reopen. It will depend on the condition prevailing at the time the decision is taken.”