All schools in city to remain closed till December 13
| Date :22-Nov-2020 |
Staff Reporter :
41 teachers test positive for COVID-19 in Nagpur district
Against the backdrop of prevailing situation of COVID-19 pandemic, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) administration issued order on Saturday stating that all schools in Nagpur city would remain closed till December 13. Radhakrishnan B, Municipal Commissioner, who is competent authority for Nagpur city to take measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 infection, stated in the order that the supplementary examinations of Class X and Class XII of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education would continue as per the time-table. As per the State Government directives, schools were scheduled to be re-opened from November 23 (Monday) for Classes IX to XII. In Nagpur city, though the spread of COVID-19 has been contained to an extent, second wave of infections is reported in various countries across the world.
Besides, in India, possibility of second wave cannot be denied given the spike in number of cases in Delhi and some other States. Against this backdrop, the Municipal Commissioner ordered that all schools in Nagpur city would remain closed till December 13. These include schools of all mediums, private and Government. But, to ensure that learning of students does not get affected, on-line education will continue as per the guidelines issued by the Government, he added. The Municipal Commissioner directed the officers of Education Department of NMC and Zilla Parishad to co-ordinate and monitor the situation in accordance with the order.
Those violating the order may face action under the relevant provisions of Disaster Management Act, The Epidemic Diseases Act, and Indian Penal Code. The order copy has been circulated to Commissioner of Police, District Collector, Chief Executive Officer of ZP, Deputy Director of Education, ZP Education Officers for primary and secondary schools, headmasters of all private and NMC secondary schools. NMC and ZP administrations were preparing for school re-opening. On Saturday, disinfectant was sprayed in classrooms as well as other structures in the schools of NMC.
Schools’ re-opening: One State, two rules
Principal Correspondent :
The way the Maharashtra Government is handling the issue of re-opening of schools is inexplicable. Surprisingly, the Government is applying different rules in different cities as far as the issue of re-opening of schools is concerned. The schools remain closed across State due to Covid-19 pandemic. It was decided earlier that the schools would be re-opened on November 23. But Mumbai Municipal Commissioner took a U-turn and announced that the schools in the city would start after December 31. While Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) administration issued order on Saturday night stating that all schools in Nagpur city would remain closed till December 13. This has created confusion as to why two separate decisions were taken. Citing reason of rising cases of coronavirus positive persons, the Government had announced that it would not hold winter session of Maharashtra State Legislature in Nagpur this year. The team under Rajendra Bhagwat, Principal Secretary of Vidhanbhavan, had visited Nagpur, reviewed the situation and submitted its report.
Despite the fact that the cases were reduced, the Government decided to hold Winter Session in Mumbai itself. These decisions were very much contradictory. On one hand Government makes temporary shifting of winter session from Nagpur to Mumbai as a precautionary measure due to the pandemic. One can interpret that because Mumbai is safer as compared to Nagpur regarding coronavirus so the Winter session was shifted to the State capital. But there is a reason one can’t believe this theory, because Mumbai Commissioner is not ready to take risk of re-opening schools before December 31.
Shockingly, Nagpur Municipal Commissioner had asked schools in Nagpur city to re-open on November 23. Of course, he changed his own decision and extended the date of re-opening to December 13. Still his hesitation of not taking decision on the lines of his counterpart in Mumbai is beyond everybody’s understanding. In the wake of parents’ poor response to re-opening of schools, the authorities can’t apply force to bring the pupils to schools.