‘This move should have come with a mechanism for early detection of COVID-19 cases earlier’
West Bengal verdict Colleges and schools to reopen from 15 November Widely welcomed by teachers, students and doctors alike, many said the move should have come earlier and these institutions should have a mechanism for early detection of COVID-19 cases.
“In the US and Europe, the effects of the closure of educational institutions have been extensively studied and are of the view that [the long closure] Life expectancy of students has decreased and economic damage has been done which will take about 70 years to recover. We have to remember that the shutdown in India has been very long and hence the impact is going to be huge,” said Dr Arjun Dasgupta, one of the leading ENT specialists in Kolkata. Hindu.
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Cardiologist Dr. Kaushik Chaki, Founder Member, West Bengal Doctors Forum said: “This is a welcome move that could have come earlier. The study had shifted to online mode for almost two years now and it was eroding the education base. While we had opened up everything else, including places for fun, we should also have opened schools and colleges where it was easier to enforce COVID-appropriate behaviour. ”
Dr Chaki said: “These institutions should have early detection facilities in case students show symptoms. Also, the psychological assessment of children returning to offline mode after two years should also be taken into account.
optimum trade-off
Talking about the challenges faced by the reopening of educational institutions, Calcutta University Vice Chancellor Sonali Chakraborty Banerjee said now the idea was to “reconcile the imperatives of public health with the needs of public education”. “The State Disaster Management Authority is mandated to find the optimal trade-off in such cases of varying exigencies, and as a state aided public university, we will go by the trade-off decision developed by the mandated authority,” Prof Chakraborty Banerjee said.
Anupama Maitra, assistant professor of English at Gour Mohan Sachin Mandal Mahavidyalaya, on the outskirts of Kolkata, said: “There is no denying that we need to go back to individual classes and there is no alternative, but I also Realize that this cannot be done at the cost of our children’s lives. There really isn’t a clear answer, and I’m hoping that just like the government is opening schools and colleges, it will respond appropriately even if the situation is dire. ”
Somashree Samant, 1st year M.Sc. student of environmental sciences at the University of Calcutta, who spent most of the lockdown period in native Durgapur to help COVID-19 patients find beds and oxygen, said: “Students who didn’t have technology at their disposal – in other words Poor students or those students living in rural areas – suffered the most during the lockdown. They will now be able to return to their classes.”
No alternative to long counseling
Another student, Aaratrika Choudhary, who is pursuing Psychology (Hons) at Bethune College in the city, said: “There can be no substitute for the lengthy one-on-one counseling and discussions with our teachers. I can’t wait to go back. I have also missed hanging out with friends in the college garden, dressing up and winter haunts.”
His elder sister Shritama Choudhary, who is an assistant professor of sociology at the city’s Ashutosh College, said opening schools and colleges with preventive measures was the “only option left with us”. “With the increased rate of vaccination, we feel safer now. I look forward to this challenge and hope all students get vaccinated as soon as possible.
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