The colleges and universities will reopen amid calls for strict adherence to covid-19 guidelines from February 1, the first time after the pestilence forced their closure in March last year. The virus case tally has reduced and opening seems to be more appropriate despite the cold wave gripping Kashmir Valley. The reopening will come as a relief to students who have missed class environment to study. The online teaching system proved all but inadequate and not enough to replace the in-class atmosphere amid slow internet troubles in J&K.
With students about to return to universities and colleges in the J&K, what can be learned from the debacles in some countries like US and the UK?
The first lesson is the importance of curbing community transmission before reopening. The government move to open up the colleges and universities seems apt in contemporary times as community spread is minimal given the fact there are fewer cases on average a day and the test positivity rate is far better than the required. The directions of strict adherence to the protocols need to be ensured on the ground without fail. The government guidelines specifically demand need to avoid the risk of transmission and as such the students, faculty, and staff are to be screened at the entry. The symptomatic ones have been advised to get clinically assessed before allowing them entry into the campus. The government says that adequate arrangements of thermal scanners, sanitizers, face masks should be made available at all entry and exit points including the reception area. It needs to be ensured without fail as the infections in students can lead to infections among vulnerable people on campus, including faculty members and staff, and in the wider community.
The concerned should always keep in mind the virus variants. Without ready pharmaceutical remedies, citizens and policymakers have to fall back on the default toolkit of safe behaviour. In Jammu and Kashmir along with other parts of the country, a sizeable population seems to have been exposed to the virus, as indicated by seropositivity surveys at several places. But the spate of infections in some parts of the country recently underscores the value of the precautionary principles. Even with declining infection rates, public activity needs to be guided by caution. Use of face masks, healthy distancing and staggering of working hours is the need of hour.
