Hyderabad: Telangana State United Teachers Federation on Wednesday called for the temporary closure of schools, amidst the spread of COVID-19.
Authorities have allegedly flouted rules regarding the temporary closure of schools, even after a few of them reported more than five cases. Doctors have re-affirmed that public spaces must be shut down in case of an outbreak.
There is a prescribed quarantine period of two weeks according to the ICMR guidelines. The number of students attending physical classes in schools that have reported positive cases has also decreased drastically. A total of 120 students attended physical classes at Zilla Parishad High School, Mamidipally on December 6, the number dropped to just 15 on Wednesday.
According to a report by Times of India, Chava Ravi, general secretary, Telangana State United Teachers Federation said, “We have seen instances of district officials denying permission to school principals to temporarily shut school even when five or more COVID-19 cases are reported from a school.”
“Officials should strictly follow guidelines issued by the state and ICMR. They should not force students and teachers to attend physical cases when there is an outbreak.” he further stated.
Shedding light on the government perspective, an official from the education department stated that, the government is willing to sanitise and run the schools, instead of shutting them temporarily to avoid loss of learning.