Top Medical Body For Phased School Reopening, Prioritises Junior Classes
NDTV
The experts spotlighted the already widened learning inequities in India and said there is a lack of scientific agreement on what is the appropriate time and approach to go back to in-person learning among schools.
Schools need to be reopened in a phased manner (beginning with primary schools followed by secondary schools) and allowed to remain open and safe with multi-layered mitigation measures, according to experts at the top medical body, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
In an opinion piece published in The Indian Journal of Medical Research, the experts cited a UNESCO report which stated that shutting schools in India for more than 500 days have affected over 320 million children.
The piece titled ''Reopening of schools during COVID-19 pandemic: A persistent dilemma'' said evidence indicates that going back to the education system to what it was in pre-Covid times, as early as possible, appears prudent in the Indian context.
"However, it would be necessary to examine the State-specific as well as district-specific data on earlier waves of infection and the status of adult vaccination coverage to project any plausible third wave and its potential intensity to inform such decisions related to schools reopening," said the report authored by Tanu Anand, Balram Bhargava and Samiran Panda.
