Ensure studies of kids orphaned due to Covid are not hindered: SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed all states and Union territories to ensure that the education of children orphaned on account of the Covid-19 pandemic continue without disruption -including in private schools, at least during the ongoing academic year.

A bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose suggested that this objective can be achieved by asking schools to waive fees or the state bearing half the expenses to reduce the burden on the affected children.

“State governments are directed to act in cohesion with Child Welfare Committees and District Education Officers in having dialogue with private schools in which children in need are studying and see that their education for this year is not disrupted. This can be done by asking the schools to waive fees or the state bearing burden of part of fees,” the bench said.

While the SC was initially dictating the order for Andhra Pradesh in a suo motu case to deal with the issue of such children, it later made it applicable to all states and Union territories.

The court’s observation came on a day when the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) said at least 100,000 children lost one or both parents during the two waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an affidavit filed through advocate Swarupama Chaturvedi, the commission, which has been running a dedicated website called Bal Swaraj for collecting such data, said 101,032 children were abandoned, became orphans or lost one of their parents due to Covid-19 or other reasons between April 1, 2020 and August 23, 2021.

Of this, the commission said, there were 8,161 orphans, 396 children were abandoned and 92,475 lost one of their parents. The affidavit specified that the deaths were caused by a variety of reasons, including Covid-19.

The affidavit was submitted in response to another suo motu petition being heard by the court for identification and rehabilitation of children who lost either or both their parents during the pandemic. The court is being assisted by amicus curiae (friend of Court) advocate Gaurav Agrawal in this case.

NCPCR SAID AT LEAST 100,000 CHILDREN LOST ONE OR BOTH PARENTS DURING THE 2 WAVES OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC