The Covid-19-induced school closure, which began in March 2020 and continues hitherto, has led to catastrophic consequences for students, more so for the underprivileged lot.
Over the last two years, worldwide, many credible institutions have raised red flags about the deteriorating mental health conditions of students after school closure. Educationists and NGOs are voicing similar concerns on various platforms. Concerns galore on far-reaching and deadly implications on the future of youngsters. All this has naturally added to the concern of the people and authorities to reopen schools.
In an inspiring move, the government of India has announced that it was working on a model for staggered opening of schools for physical classes following all COVID-19 related protocols. The opening of schools should be worked out now by the Jammu and Kashmir administration. While students elsewhere in the globe have missed physical schooling since March 2020, their counterparts in J&K have had an extended period due to closures due to effective revocation of the Article 370 in August 2019.
It has become necessary to prevent further damage to the social and emotional well-being of children.
Online education can never replace offline education and this fact stands proved beyond doubt. The excessive caution is now harming students and as such efforts must be done to reopen the schools. Vaccination should be ensured to all eligible.
Lieutenant Governor rightly emphasized that the vaccination is a critical tool to help stop the Covid pandemic. He also made a “humble request” to the young people to get vaccinated. He also rightly emphasized people not to be complacent after getting vaccinated. It’s crucial to continue following COVID protocols and guidelines. The government needs to create awareness and boost confidence among the people, especially among the parents of the eligible children, to get vaccinated. What has been seen is that the vaccination has surely helped reduce hospitalizations. The message must be amplified. The government needs to cover more people as quickly as possible. Efforts must be made to prepare for the opening of the schools. Whenever a society is caught in crossfire where decision making is not an easy decision, the usual stand of decisive key players is to do the easiest- play safe. The future of the students is paramount and as things stand, the best bet is to open up the schools and preparations must be done now.
