E-Paper
Parents want schools to be shut only if multiple Omicron cases found in vicinity, survey finds
The survey took the inputs of more than 10,000 parents from over 332 districts of India, with 61 per cent of them being men and 39 per cent being women.
With cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) rapidly increasing in India, a new survey has revealed that most Indian parents want the local administration to stop offline classes in schools only if multiple cases of the strain are detected in the district or "within 25 kilometres" of their vicinity.
The survey that took the inputs of more than 10,000 parents from over 332 districts of the country, was put together by online platform Local Circles. Of them, 61% of the respondents were men and 39% were women.
According to the survey, 12% of the parents said that schools must be closed if there is even one Omicron case in the district or in nearby regions. On the other hand, 21% of parents said offline classes in schools must be stopped if there is a single Omicron case with no travel history in the district or in nearby areas.
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Of several questions asked in the survey, the one pertaining to if schools should be shut or function amid rising Omicron spread, received as many as 9,694 responses from 10,000 respondents. A total of 45% respondents (parents) hailed from Tier-1 districts, 31% from Tier-2 while 24% of them belonged to Tier-3 and 4 districts as well as rural areas.
The survey also revealed that a majority of the parents are worried about Omicron spreading even more rapidly among children in school once the variant of Covid-19 enters the community of a particular district. The parents raised concerns over “limited outdoor air ventilation in most classes and no access to air purifiers and high transmissibility of Omicron,” according to the Local Circles survey.
After evaluation of the responses, the survey found that most parents want local authorities not to shut schools till Omicron comes to their district or nearby regions. Meanwhile, 30% of parents want authorities to wait till a non-travel related case of the Covid-19 variant is detected in their district or vicinity.
Schools in over 20 states and Union territories (UTs) in India have resumed offline classes, including Mumbai and Pune where schools reopened yesterday and today, respectively.
India has so far reported 77 cases of Omicron Covid-19 variant, following Delhi reporting four fresh cases earlier in the day. Notably, Maharashtra accounts for the most number of cases in the country with 32 infections.
