Back-to-school: Doctors urge for utmost care

BHOPAL: Though the HRD ministry has allowed schools to call 50% of the staff and also let in students to clear their doubts, teachers, parents as well as students are not so sure if it will be a good idea, particularly when Covid-19 cases are increasing in leaps and bounds and the risk of infection is greater than before.

Pulmonologist Dr Lokendra Dave said it will be better for the schools to first wait for finer guidelines and implement proper social distancing and sanitization in the intitutions before calling the staff back to work.

“Schools should only call a few teachers on a given day, and strictly implement social distancing on the school premises and make it compulsory for everyone to wear masks.

The mental health of students and teachers was also taking a hit staying at home and taking online classes. This will help them get their lives back on track,” said Dr Dave.

Teachers and school counsellors are worried about the high risk of infection and feel that calling back the staff when the number of positive cases is rising would be an illadvised move.

Parents of students are also not very keen on sending them to the school regularly, but are fine with sessions to clear doubts.

“If schools allow children in small numbers, with prior appointments with subject teachers to ensure there are not more than 4-5 students in a class, I will think about sending my son to school to clear a few doubts he has in Physics and Mathematics. As it is his board year, I cannot ask him to waste time looking for solutions through online tutorials, as they cannot replace a teacher. But the school first has to ensure that they are taking all necessary precautions,” said Jitendra Singh, a government employee.

Psychologists also feel that sooner or later schools and other educational institutions also had to be reopened to bring the education system back on track, but they must take all necessary

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