Editor,
The state government via a notification through the education commissioner directed the reopening of all the schools in the state from 1 July.
Adhering to the directive, teachers have joined their schools and the admission process has begun.
But the sudden surge of Covid-19 cases has raised concern among parents and the guardians, and they are reluctant to admit their children in educational institutions.
Tawang recorded 11 Covid cases on 6 July, and 24 new cases surfaced on 7 July, taking the district’s Covid tally to 201. Mokto and BTK in Tawang have been notified as containment zones.
Meanwhile, the state reported 308 cases on 6 July and 404 cases on 7 July. Five people have succumbed to the virus within two days.
These statistics scream out to inform that the fight against Covid isn’t over and the hazards still persist.
The writing on the wall is quite visible: the Covid graph has taken a sharp ascend in the district as well as in the rest of the state. Moreover, predictions are ripe that the third wave would target children, and kids have been identified as a soft target of the Delta variant.
During such trying times, the directive to reopen schools and expose the unvaccinated and low-immunity school children to Covid-19 needs to be reviewed.
Further, it would be a tremendously daunting task for the school faculties to tutor and supervise the kids on Covid SOPs. The current scenario has turned enigmatic to the parents, who are in a stalemate to register their kids to schools or not, with the virus knocking on the door.
The education ministry needs to seriously review the decision before any major disaster strikes and gear up for the battle against the third wave.
Lham Tsering,
Chief Editor,
Mon Tawang Vigilance