India continues to report around 2, 75,000 Coronavirus cases every day. While these statistics are alarming, they are very close to the numbers observed during the tumultuous second wave in 2021. But, statistics are meaningless without proper context and many states have not seen an upsurge of hospitalisations and deaths, something that was feared at the beginning of the third wave. Many states that are in the throes of the third wave have around 95% of their beds unoccupied. Having said that, many states are now easing restrictions and allowing public places and businesses to open up.
Yet, schools continue to be closed in most parts of the country, more so, because the local administrations fear that there could be an upsurge in infections. Politicians continue to dither on the issue of opening up of schools, which adversely threatens the lives of our children. Moreover, public demand and policy action is seen to be absent. The psychological, social and educational costs of this closure are also being felt in every home in the country and there is ample research to point to its long-term impact. It is in this backdrop that it is important to bring children back to the classrooms as soon as possible.
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While children are likely to contract the virus, it is worth noting that they typically have mild symptoms and are less likely to fall severely ill. The proportion of children who get moderate to severe infection is very negligible. It is also proved that children who contract the virus have a tendency to recover very quickly. They are less likely to become a cluster of infection. Children also develop symptoms after or concurrent with adult infected contacts; this implies that children are not the “source” of infection and get COVID-19 from adults, rather than transmitting it to them. Only the children who have some pre-existing diseases are at a higher risk. In fact, a report published by the European Centre for disease Prevention and Control in July last year had pointed out that the benefits of keeping schools open far outweighed the risks posed by disease transmission in children. In this context, with the disruptions that have taken place and years of teaching time having been lost, schools cannot continue to remain shut forever.
Schools must reopen as severe cases dip and vaccination coverage increases. While reopening schools, the safety of children, parents, and teachers needs to be prioritised. The ability to maintain safety protocols is important, while also having an engaging dialogue with school authorities and parents. Schools will need to be better prepared for quick decisions. Doubtless, all decisions will have implications for children, parents, teachers and others; the policymakers and the educators have a tough job to do and need every possible support to be able to reopen schools completely. With proper COVID-appropriate behaviour like physical distancing, hand sanitisation and ventilation in the classroom, the spread of the virus can be prevented. There needs to be a balance between children’s safety against the virus and their right to protect their future.
And with children’s vaccine around the corner, Central and State governments have to work together to devolve a strategy to reopen schools, while consulting all stakeholders involved. The new normal for schools will be to adjust to the realities of the pandemic. They will need to manage challenges and work with different scenarios. Moving forward, states will have to provide substantial community support to those willing to come back to schools. Various governments will also have to include resilience as a core part of the education system, besides providing resources to disadvantaged schools in rural areas.
As we have seen, online learning is a poor substitute for actual teaching. More so, in a country like ours, where there is a wide digital gap, opening schools is a workable option. Online education has led to inequality in learning. Large numbers of students have no access to devices such as mobiles, desktops and laptops for online learning. Even in cases where students have some amount of access to these devices, there is little or no awareness on how to use them for remote learning. Social evils like child labour, child marriages, and crimes have gone up. There are apprehensions that the poorer children may never return to school. Thus, urgent action needs to be taken, before it is too late.
While the Covid-19 pandemic has not come to an end, the country is better prepared than before and this is the silver lining. Some measures can be taken to save lives. While lockdowns are effective short-term measures, they are very expensive for a country like India. States should prioritise vaccine coverage for all school kids, undertake random tests to gauge the transmission trends, and reopen schools soon.
