Assam: Sending kids to school a huge risk during Covid crisis, say parents

GUWAHATI: Even when many teachers want special arrangements for classes to be made for students of Classes X and XII who will appear for their board examinations next year, many guardians are reluctant to send their children to school at a time when Covid-19 cases are rising in the state.
Considering the vulnerability of children to the novel coronavirus, the state government is yet to reach a conclusion on reopening the educational institutions in the state.
Saba Anish, assistant professor at JB College in Jorhat, who is a mother of two children, said, "As life is above everything else, reopening of schools and educational institutions when the pandemic graph is on the rise will be nothing less than a blunder. The students till Class IX can be promoted without exams. They can be assessed through some online assignments and projects. Even in places where online tests are difficult, government can give a green signal to promoting all the students. Class X and XII exams can be postponed by a few months, as it is a pan-Indian crisis."
She added, "At the college and university level, except for the final semester students, the rest can be promoted through a combined assessment of assignments and previous exams and internal assessment records. The final semester students too can be assessed through non-traditional methods."
Rani Pathak Das, another guardian from Panbazar area of Guwahati, said, "We cannot put the lives of our children at risk. The government can always decide to promote them to the next class and in this way they will not lose an academic year. After all, children will learn only if they stay alive and survive the pandemic."
However, Assam State Primary Teachers' Association (ASPTA) general secretary Ratul Chandra Goswami urged the state government to evolve a new strategy to reopen the schools while maintaining all precautionary measures. Despite a government directive to impart lessons through WhatsApp, e-learning via social media has faced a major hurdle in Assam during the lockdown. The leading teachers' body, in a assessment, found that about 80 per cent students in schools in the state cannot be reached through WhatsApp.
"The virus is here to stay. We will have to evolve a new strategy and adjust with the situation. Reopening of the schools in important, as summer vacation has also ended in the state's schools in the month of May," Goswami said.
Commissioner and secretary to the state education department Preetom Saikia said that the state government is likely to come up with a decision on reopening educational institutions by June.
"Many issues are being discussed at the highest level in the state government on reopening schools. We are expecting a decision soon. But there is no plan to extend the summer vacation which ended in May. For the time being online classes may continue," Saikia added.