DDMA to discuss restarting school for classes 6 to 8
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s education department officials on Tuesday said that it proposes to discuss reopening schools for students of classes 6 to 8 in the upcoming Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting as per the graded response suggested by the expert committee.
“Since the current DDMA order is valid till September 15, the discussions on the next step will happen before that. The expert committee constituted by DDMA (in August) called for a graded response, meaning schools will first reopen for classes 9 to 12 followed by classes 6 to 8. Primary classes would be opened after that, if the situation remained conducive. Now that schools have started functioning and we haven’t seen the spread of the coronavirus in schools or violation of Covid-19 protocols, we propose to discuss reopening of classes 6 to 8 in the next phase,” said a senior education department official who asked not to be named.
The DDMA meeting is likely to take place this week.
Schools in Delhi were allowed to reopen for classes 9 to 12 from September 1. The DDMA order issued on August 30 asked schools to follow all SOPS on Covid-appropriate behaviour and rope in parents while planning safety measures.
Malini Narayanan, chairperson of the National Progressive Schools’ Conference which has 122 Delhi schools under its umbrella, said private schools were largely keen on having younger students back to school. “Studies have shown that younger children are more resilient than older ones... Though there are some apprehensions, parents and children across schools are mostly keen to return. If schools reopen for classes 6 to 8, more students will come to school, which might help schools start transport and bus services. That will in turn get more students back to school,” Narayan said.
The Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine came out with an advisory report on Sunday that contended that keeping children at home further may lead to lasting social and developmental impairment along with increasing inequality among privileged and underprivileged children.
“School closures not only exposed the socio-economic educational inequality but also exacerbated it as it relied heavily on family support and resources available both in the home and school. The closure of schools has not only differentially interrupted the learning of students but also restricted their opportunity for overall physical, social and emotional development,” the report said.
Concerns remain
However, government school principals have expressed concerns over the reopening of junior classes.
Government school principal Sukhbir Singh Yadav, president of Vice and Principals’ Association of Delhi, said, “Our staff has been engaged in Covid-19 duties including those at the airport, working at vaccination centres at schools and hospitals. Even available trained graduate teachers (TGTS) are busy with classes 9 and 10 because the students have been split into multiple groups to follow physical distancing. There is also a space crunch in several schools. Besides, the festive season is coming and in such a scenario, it would be prudent to wait a few weeks till taking a call on the matter.”