Right time to take ‘calculated’ risk: IMA on reopening of schools amid Covid-19
IMA president Dr JA Jayalal said that as the risk pertaining to the possibility of the infection spreading is “quite negligible,” this is the right time to open schools in an “appropriate way.”
A day before six states and one Union territory are to reopen schools for students of various classes, the president of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr JA Jayalal said that this is the “right time” for governments to take a “calculated risk” and resume classes.

Speaking to news agency ANI, he said, “Considering [the] possibility of spread, the risk is quite negligible at this moment unless something catastrophic takes place. It’s the right time when [the] government should come forward and take a calculated risk and open the schools in an appropriate way.”
Even as the Centre has warned the citizens that the second wave of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic is yet to wear off, and the third wave of the virus looms large, many states and UTs such as Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat, among others have given the go-ahead to reopen schools.
In Delhi — where speculations have been rife for weeks on the matter of reopening of schools — classes 9 to 12 will resume from Wednesday, while classes 6 to 8 will resume from September 8. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Monday laid down guidelines for reopening of schools, in which it said that classes can be conducted at a maximum of 50% capacity of students in each classroom and that the timetable should be chalked out as per occupancy limit.
Also Read | Back to school: Delhi and other states where offline classes will resume from September 1
However, Dr Jayalal’s statement and the decision of certain states to resume physical classes come amid the Telangana high court’s stay order on the state government’s decision to reopen schools. Notably, the Telangana government had on August 24 announced the resumption of physical classes in all educational institutions in the state, including the Anganwadi centres, from September 1 onwards.
But, the high court on Tuesday put a stay on the state government’s directive, saying that no student would be compelled to attend the physical classes. The order came in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The high court also asked the Telangana government to file an affidavit on the matter.
India on Tuesday reported 30,941 fresh coronavirus cases, and 350 deaths, thereby taking the respective cumulative tally to 32,768,880 and 438,560, according to the data available on the Union ministry of health and family welfare’s daily bulletin.
As many as 36,275 new recoveries were reported on Tuesday that took the total number of recovered patients to 31,959,680.
