Edu dept rubbishes reports on selective reopening of schools

Thiruvananthapuram: General education department has rubbished reports that government was preparing for selective reopening of schools by September, after Onam.
"We haven’t taken such a decision as it won’t be wise to assume about the situation in August and beyond," said director of general education Jeevan Babu. School reopening date will be decided considering ground realities in state and general guidelines from state and central governments, he added.
There were reports that government might explore the possibility of reopening schools in places where the prevalence of Covid cases is comparatively low and such an approach could be implemented after August. A statement, purportedly from the education department, had claimed that general education department may whittle down school syllabus if schools remain shut beyond September.
Even as officials and the office of the minister concerned termed the claims unfounded, sources said the government had indeed shared such a thought with national disaster management authority last week. "An official, who attended the NDMA meeting, when asked about possible reopening of schools in Kerala had said that it could be after August. But the officer was sharing a general assumption, not a decision’’, said a senior official in the department.
However, NDMA later published a list of possible reopening dates of schools across the country and Kerala figured in the list of states that planned to open schools by the end of August. NDMA had even asked the government to seek the feedback of parents on whether they agree with the government’s plan.
"State government hasn’t taken a decision on school reopening. So, there is no question of seeking parent feedback on reopening dates. As of now, the Centre has asked all states to keep schools shut in July. Considering ground realities and the advisories from Centre, we will take further decisions in due course," said general education secretary A Shajahan.