All hail decision to defer school, college reopening

While scrutinising the feedback collected from the parents, more than 50 per cent of them were found unwilling to send children to the school, said a senior official from the School Education Department.

 “Though parents in southern districts – which do not have many coronavirus cases – were willing to send their kids, health authorities clearly advised not to reopen schools amid the festival season and monsoon,” he said. Hailing the State government’s decision to defer school reopening, Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Association president PK Ilamaran said the authorities have removed the anxiety among parents. “There was a fear among the students that they might be infected by the virus. The government should announce the reopening of schools only after the normalcy is restored,” he said.

 The decision taken by the government was in the best interest of teachers and students, said Sujatha, principal, Vaels International School. “With Deepavali approaching this weekend, this move will help in avoiding the spread of COVID-19 among young children. This will also give time for all to ensure safety measures are in place,” she added.

 This announcement could have made long ago so that the online classes could have been strengthened, opined S Arumainathan, president, Tamil Nadu Parents, Students, and Teachers’ Welfare Association. He urged the government to conduct board exams only for Class 10 and Class 12 as it was important for higher studies, and added that the authorities should declare all-pass for the rest of the students this year.

 DC Elangovan, secretary, Federation of Associations of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu, who had earlier claimed that more than 75 per cent of parents were willing to send their children to schools, welcomed the decision. Online exams should be continued till the situation returned to normal, he said.

 While welcoming the move to defer reopening, Dr N Pasupathy, Association of University Teachers (AUT) president, added it was the right decision to begin classes for PG final year and PhD students.