Schools, colleges and training and coaching institutes in the national capital will remain closed as the DDMA has declared a “yellow alert” amid a spike in COVID-19 cases following the emergence of the Omicron version of the virus. The Directorate of Education (DoE) clarified that online teaching teaching, examinations and related activities such as practicals, projects and assignments for classes 9 to 12 will be conducted as per schedule.
While the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) elicited a mixed response from parents, other stakeholders including school principals and education experts raised concerns about the increase in learning gaps. The alert, which comes under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), marked the biggest single-day spike in COVID-19 infections in the national capital in six months on Monday when 331 new cases were reported with a positivity rate of 0.67 per cent.
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The GRAP was approved by the DDMA in July, in anticipation of the third wave of COVID-19 in Delhi. The plan gives a clear picture of the imposition and removal of restrictions as per the situation. Under the “yellow alert”, schools, colleges, training and coaching institutions as well as libraries should be closed.
Schools for students above class 6 were allowed to reopen from December 18, after they were closed in view of alarming pollution levels in Delhi. The government had then announced that physical classes for students up to class V could start from December 27.
Delhi Parents’ Association (DPA) president Aparajita Gautam said the continued closure and reopening of schools has had an “undoubtedly deteriorating” effect on the mental health of students. Total failure of . The frequent closure and reopening of schools has definitely had a bad impact on the mental health of the students,” Gautam said.
“The expected high pollution levels and the ninth time the schools were to be closed again could have been dealt with in a better planned manner. There is always a fear of uncertainty in the minds of our students. All India Parents Association (AIPA) Ashok Agarwal said that the schools have been closed “without any justification or scientific basis”.
“One can understand by taking precautions but closing schools and colleges is not a solution. In neighboring states, schools are open, so what is special about schools closing in Delhi. Schools and colleges have faced repeated closures due to the COVID pandemic since March last year, before the nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus.
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The headmaster of a top private school, who did not wish to be identified, said, “There are no plans on how these extremely widespread learning gaps will be filled if this continues for a long time. Health cannot be compromised, but now is the time to start working on a long-term plan which is workable.” Tanya Agarwal, a lawyer and parent of a Class I student, has a long-term negative impact. outspoken about. School closed, tweeted, “Clearly Delhi Govt doesn’t care about kids and doesn’t care about COVID. Because they have once again decided to keep bars and restaurants open, but have closed schools. Shameful.”
Apart from schools and colleges, cinemas and gyms have also been closed, as per the set of restrictions under alert. It also imposes several restrictions on the functioning of shops and public transport such as establishment of non-essential goods and services and malls will open on the odd-even formula from 10 am to 8 pm, while the Delhi Metro will run at 50 per cent. seating capacity.
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