School managements, parents for hybrid model of teaching

Clusters and new Omicron variant leave them worried

Schools and colleges have just about managed to bounce back this academic year with offline classes resuming over the past few months, but the emergence of COVID-19 clusters in educational institutions and the new Omicron variant of the virus has parents, students, and managements worried.

Some schools have appealed to parents to ensure that their children return straight back home after classes and not to mingle with friends outside the school campus. Others are batting for hybrid models of education involving offline and online learning.

D. Shashi Kumar, general secretary, Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools, said that while schools were following stringent measures laid down in the SOPs, they were unable to monitor lapses outside the campus. He also urged the Government to ensure that there were curbs and checks on tutorials where hundreds of students were made to sit in a single classroom without adequate social distancing.