The Centre has asked States to speed up vaccination drives for school teachers and para teachers. Educational bodies under the Central government such as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the University Grants Commission (UGC) have been asked to assess the status of vaccination among teachers and staff. The central bodies will submit a report on the percentage of teachers and staff vaccinated across India, a govt source told CNN News18.
States have been asked to carry out vaccination drives in ‘campaign mode’ to achieve 100% vaccinations, enabling children to attend schools physically the official added.
Indian Council of Medical Research Chief Dr Balram Bhargava last week had suggested that it is about time to reopen schools- the primary school sections first, as young children are at lower risk of infection. But once the teachers and all support staff are vaccinated.
Many states now looking at opening up schools in a phased manner. At least nine states Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha Punjab and Gujarat have partially reopened schools or are in the process of doing so.
According to UNESCO – at the peak of the outbreak in September 2020, nearly 72 crore children were impacted worldwide. It says- schooling provides essential learning and studies have shown that school closures have a negative impact on children on multiple levels.
Though a section of parents and students remain apprehensive as India stares at a third wave and the emergence of new variants of COVID19 remains a cause of concern.
While opinion is divided on reopening schools, experts believe that the bottom line is that vaccination must be made a pre-requisite for reopening educational institutions especially since jabs for juniors are still a few months away.
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