GURUGRAM: With over 150 government school students testing positive for
Covid-19 in the past two weeks, parents and
teachers have turned jittery. But the
education department has brushed aside the possibility of shutting down
schools in Haryana, which were among the first in India to open for physical classes, and instead attributed the spurt in cases among students to the logical outcome of the state’s medical supervision plan.
The numbers, officials claimed, are not alarming given the fact that over 10,000 students of classes 9-12 have been tested so far under the random sampling scheme adopted by the education department. Moreover, big cities like Gurgaon haven’t reported a single case from medical surveillance of students so far. Testing of students will continue over the next few days and monitoring of standard operating procedures (SOPs) have also been stepped up to ensure strict adherence to bio bubbles across schools.
“Attendance in schools is on the rise despite over 150 students in Rewari, Jind and Jhajjar testing positive. This means that parents are confident about the Covid-19 protocols being followed in schools. Moreover, the numbers aren’t alarming at all. About 10,000 students have been tested and of them, 150 are positive. All of them are asymptomatic. Many districts haven’t reported any cases,” said a senior education official.
Yet, the numbers have added to the discomfort of parents and teachers, who are already apprehensive about campus classes amid the pandemic. Sunil Kumar, whose two daughters have tested positive in Rewari’s Kund village, said his family too got tested for Covid-19. “Except my daughters, none in my family reported positive. This means our daughters contracted the virus in school. I’m not going to send my daughters back to school anytime soon,” he said.
Rachna Devi, sarpanch of Kund where over 20 students of Government Senior Secondary School have tested positive, also claimed that the village was faring well in terms of Covid-19 cases till schools reopened. “The school is shut now but there’s apprehension among parents. So far, we had done well to contain the spread of the virus and these children got infected after schools reopened. This is certainly worrying,” she said.
Teachers have also expressed concern over the increasing case load in the state. “Calling teachers and students to schools was anyway risky. Even if school premises are safe, what about kids coming in contact with several people on their way. The government should shut down all schools,” said Tarun Suhag, state president of Rajkiya Prathmik Shikshak Sangh.
However, Mahavir Singh, additional chief secretary of school education, said, “We have tied up with the health department and primary healthcare centres for medical supervision as per the SOPs released for resuming physical classes in schools. We have asked them to test as many students as possible so that there’s not an iota of doubt that those coming to schools could be Covid carriers.”
“Our bubble system was created for this purpose only. That students will be randomly selected for testing and if any bubble is burst (student tests positive), then the entire section is sent for home isolation. Similarly, if more than one bubble burst, then the entire school is shut for seven to 14 days, depending on the number of affected students and teachers,” he added.