Delhi schools to remain closed until further notice; 1,330 new seats added to higher education institutes
Manish Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, claimed that the increase in seats was equivalent to opening five-six new colleges
Delhi:
Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said all schools in the Capital will remain closed until further notice because of the Covid-19 situation in the Capital and to prevent a spread of the contagious disease among children.
In another announcement, Sisodia said students graduating this year will have more opportunities as the government has added around 1,330 seats in the state’s higher educational institutes.
“Keeping the pandemic in mind, several parents and teachers have suggested schools should not be reopened anytime soon because even if 200-400 students start coming to schools, there is a risk of Covid-19 spreading among children,” he said.
“Reports suggest that wherever schools were reopened, an increase in the number of cases was observed in those countries. The chief minister [Arvind Kejriwal] and I have thought this through even as parents and whether we would be willing to expose our kids to such a risk. This is why we have decided that all schools in the national Capital will remain closed until further orders,” Sisodia said.
Covid-19 cases are again on the rise in the city after a brief lull. Delhi on Wednesday reported 5,673 new cases — the maximum number reported in a single day so far since the first one was detected on March 2. A day earlier, 4,853 new cases were recorded. The city had seen the first surge in cases in June-July.
Following the nationwide lockdown imposed in March to curb the spread of Covid-19, schools in Delhi – government, private, government-aided, unaided and corporation-run – had stopped physical classes.
Schools moved to an online or semi-online model of teaching-learning, with classes being conducted through video conferencing applications or by sending worksheets to students who do not have unlimited access to the internet or to smartphones and laptops.
Dr Lalit Kant, former epidemiology and communicable diseases head at the Indian Council of Medical Research, said the reopening would have posed as a risk as more children would come in contact with each other. “Though the children themselves may not get infected, they may spread the infection and even the adults in the school will be at risk. While they have been going out and playing, the number of children interacting will increase multifold if schools were to reopen, putting their parents and grandparents at risk,” he said.
On the extra seats, the deputy chief minister said these will be available across various courses, including Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Technology (BTech), Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in the state government-run Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, which has over 130 affiliated colleges.
While the addition is mainly in undergraduate courses, seats in certain PG courses such as Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Master of Vocation (MVoc) and Master of Science (MSc) courses have been increased.
“For students who graduated this year and will seek admission to colleges, this is good news that the Delhi government has added over 1,330 seats in higher education. These seats will be there in IP university colleges. Around 630 seats have been added to BTech courses, while 220 and 120 seats have been added to BCom and BBA courses, respectively,” Sisodia said at a press conference on Thursday.
Around 90 and 120 seats have been added to the Bachelor in Computer Application course and BA (Honours) in Economics courses while 60 seats have been added to the MBA course.
IP University vice-chancellor Mahesh Verma said they added 1,325 seats across government and self-financing courses. “While this is not enough to manage the influx of students,inspection of several colleges could not be done due to Covid. We will target to increase this number next year. We plan to start new courses.”
Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, said the increase in seats was equivalent to opening five-six new colleges. “When a new college opens in this country, barely 200-odd seats are made available for students. If you look at these new seats, the Delhi government is providing the equivalent of at least five to six new colleges for students. It’s a good opportunity for our children,” he said.
Delhi schools to remain closed until further notice; 1,330 new seats added to higher education institutes
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