Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 20: All J&K Plus 2 Lecturers Forum and J&K United School Teachers Association have resented the Government decision of re-opening schools from tomorrow for students of class 9 to 12.
A virtual meeting of the Lecturers’ Forum was held today under the leadership of its President, Deepak Sharma to discuss the Government’s decision. Deliberating threadbare on the issue, the participants said that reopening of schools at this juncture may prove to be disastrous as the number of Corona positive cases across the UT of J&K are surging fast.
Deepak Sharma said that the “learning loss” is a matter of concern throughout the country but feedback from parents and society is to prioritise child health and safety over the actual class room schooling because learning loss can be covered but loss of health/life can not be compensated. “Moreover when classes are to be conducted online only and the students have to come to schools for seeking guidance only, there is no logic to open the schools as same can be sought by students online,” he added.
Forum said that sample testing in Government offices/Banks/ PSUs etc in various Districts, has shown many officers/officials as corona positive. “If grown up citizens are not able to follow the required guidelines and SOPs on Covid-19, how can we expect school going teenagers to follow the same,” he said.
Speakers in the meeting further pointed out that when Universities and Colleges which have more mature and awakened students, are closed, schools across the UT are being reopened for the students of 9th to 12th classes.
Forum urged Lt Governor Manoj Sinha for his personal intervention and direct the concerned authorities to postpone the opening of schools till the environment is conducive for the same in the larger interest of the students.
Meanwhile, a meeting of J&K United School Teachers Association (USTA) was also held under the chairmanship of Rajeev Kumar, its Provincial President and discussed the present education scenario. While speaking on the occasion, USTA General Secretary, Hari Singh appealed to the Government to reconsider its decision to open educational institutions at a time when COVID-19 cases are sharply increasing throughout the country including UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Government has decided to open educational institutions without classwork making the presence of 50 per cent teachers mandatory. The purported exercise is going to serve no academic purpose and appears to be merely wastage of time and likely to disrupt even online academic work,” he said and stressed that it should be avoided till the formal classwork is resumed.
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