Senior officials from the state education department said the state was seriously reviewing the impact of Covid-19 on schools in the state, where numerous positive cases have been detected since the formal reopening of educational institutions on Nov. 2.
“We are prepared to reopen elementary schools. But we are closely watching the situation after Gujarat, Haryana and Mumbai reversed their decision (on reopening schools). The situation is being reviewed in the case of Assam and we will remain very cautious, ”the chief secretary of the education department, B Kalyan Chakravarthy, told TOI on Saturday.
Although the state education department does not disclose the number of positive cases detected among students and school personnel, sources in the education department said a decision will be made on the reopening of elementary schools after evaluating the infection by Covid in the districts on Monday.
According to sources, due to the lack of a mechanism to check schools for Covid infection on a daily basis, Dispur is not in a position to make the decision until the district’s data reaches top officials.
“Dispur has sought confidential district data on Covid infection in schools. Details will reach the secretary of state of the secondary education directorate on the impact of the virus infection in secondary schools and upper secondary schools on Monday, ”said a source from the department of education.
Schools and universities in Assam formally reopened on November 2 after seven months after the Covid-19 outbreak.
However, offline classes on major college campuses are not yet feasible, as the state government has not yet allowed the reopening of the hostels. Most of the state’s universities are housed in hostels and have been forced to suspend plans to resume classes on campus due to the closure of the hostels.
The Assam State Association of Primary Teachers, which recently had a discussion with the state minister of education Himanta Biswa Sarma, urged the latter to reopen primary schools as soon as possible.
Ratul Chandra Goswami, general secretary of the association, said that primary school students should not be deprived of their rights to education on behalf of Covid.
“At least the upper classes of the elementary standard (4 and 5) should be able to open for offline classes. Since as of Class 6, sessions are ongoing, elementary students should not be private. If the situation worsens, the government can close all classes, but there should be no disparity with primary school students, ”Goswami said.
The BJP-led government had started Aadhaar enrollment for all school children in Assam to track students and include them in government schemes earlier this month.
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