The report of a large number of Covid positive cases being detected among students as well as staff at Rama Krishna Mission School, Narrottam Nagar in Tirap district has sent shock waves across the state. The school has been declared as a containment zone.
The report has deeply worried the already concerned parents. Many are still reluctant to send their wards to schools due to fear of Covid-19. It is feared that the third wave will particularly hit children, even though experts have dismissed the theory.
When the decision to reopen schools was taken, many parents feared an RKM School Covid-outbreak type of incident.
This kind of an outbreak is inevitable. The reopening of school is like a double-edged sword. RKM is a private school and therefore is well managed. It was easy to detect Covid cases and put the school in quarantine mode. However, there are many other schools, including the government-run ones where it will be difficult to control the situation if a large outbreak of Covid-19 takes place. Therefore, the SOPs developed at the time of reopening of school should be strictly followed.
The district administrations across the state should form a flying squad, who in return should regularly visit schools and check whether SOPs are strictly followed or not. The education department and district admini-stration cannot afford to be careless.