Delhi government recently announced that the schools in the National Capital Territory are going to open for students of classes Nursery to 8th from 1st November 2021, Monday onwards. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia made Delhi schools reopening notice public with a tweet on 27th October 2021, The tweet said,
“All the schools and educational institutes shall be allowed to be opened, for all the classes, in Delhi from 1st Nov. However, schools shall also continue online classes for the students who are not willing to attend classes offline.”
Schools all over India have been closed for the last 19 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. And now when everything has started to take back its pace, schools in the national capital are ready to join the forces. With 1 billion-plus vaccination doses done and Covid-19 infections witnessing a constant decline from June, things seem to be under control after the disastrous second wave. However, this does not mean that we are all safe from Covid19 infections. Precautions are still mandatory to ensure we remain safe.
Coming back to the Delhi schools reopening, here are a few highlights of the announcement Manish Sisodia made at a press conference after a Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting:
- The classes from Nursery to 8th standard will commence for all the schools in Delhi from 1st November onwards. Until now, just the classes 9th to 12th were operating in a hybrid mode.
- The schools will open with 50 percent student strength and classes will be continued in a composite manner.
- No student will be forced or mandated to attend the classes offline, and therefore both online and offline classes will keep going together.
- It was also announced that the staff involved in school operations in any form need to be fully vaccinated as soon as possible.
- The school staff and children were requested to follow all the Covid related measures, protocols and wear masks.
The DDMA met recently in the national capital for reviewing Delhi’s COVID-19 grip, where the city health secretary suggested making vaccination mandatory to get entry in malls and metro besides other precautionary measures. It was added that the Covid situation is under control in Delhi but we all need to remain vigilant.
The decision of the Delhi government has received a mixed response from people consisting of several criticisms and appreciations. Few of them are positive about the thought of bringing little minds back to school but few are again worried about putting them under the risk of infections and finding opening schools at the peak of festivals vague and pointless.
The decision of Delhi schools reopening with 50 percent strength, in a hybrid mode and by taking all precautionary measures is a well-thought decision. But it can be proved only by the management of schools in cooperation with parents to ensure this is followed strictly. Before the schools reopen parents, schools and children need to be prepared, this blog might help you with the same: https://www.edustoke.com/blog/how-can-schools-reopen-safely/.