“We Should Aggressively Work On Opening Schools” Says AIIMS Chief

Opening Schools In India: Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Wednesday said that schools that have been closed for over a year due to COVID-19 pandemic need to reopen. He stated that we need to work on strategies that would help the schools to function offline again.

According to ANI, the AIIMS chief said that schools need to open because the young generation is getting affected “in terms of knowledge” and especially the “marginalised ones” who have limited access to online classes.

Guleria also emphasised on the importance of offline schools which helps “individuals to grow”

“Physical schools are useful because they help individuals to grow, there is interaction among students & other activities in school which help a lot in terms of development of children's character. We should try & work on strategies that schools can be open,” the tweet shared by the news agency read.

Physical schools are useful because they help individuals to grow, there is interaction among students & other activities in school which help a lot in terms of development of children's character. We should try & work on strategies that schools can be open: Dr. Randeep Guleria

— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2021

Considering the declining number of COVID-19 cases, the discussion of reopening schools has started again. Recently, the central government asked when students can be expected to return for physical classes.

On Tuesday, the government stated that when a major portion of the population is vaccinated against COVID-19, the schools can resume physical classes.

Since March 2020, schools and colleges have been shut owing to the nationwide lockdown. However, many states decided to resume physical teaching-learning earlier this year. Following the second wave of Covid the activities were stopped and they went back to online classes again.

The centre doesn’t plan to have students back in the classroom any sooner but states like Maharashtra and Telangana are planning for partial reopening of educational institutions.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday directed the state Education Department to look into the possibility of opening schools and colleges for students of Classes 10 and 12 in villages which have no COVID-19 cases.

On the other hand, considering the reports submitted by the Telangana Medical and Health Department officials, the state has decided that schools will resume offline classes from July 1.

Earlier this month, the state government took the decision considering declining number of COVID-19 cases.