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prescribed by the Central government relating to masking, THEY SAID IT IN FEBRUARY
sanitisation of premises, social distancing and the option of
alternate day schooling, this phased schools reopening pro- “ ere needs to be recognition that socialism
gramme is proceeding smoothly. “With the Covid situation is not the only ideology that has copyright on
well-managed by the state government, the number of chil- welfare. When the economy does not do well
dren returning to in-school classes is rising steadily from and wealth isn’t generated, then social good
35 percent on January 11 to 84 percent in the week ending suffers and so does the welfare state. So, we
February 25,” says Dr. V i n o d R. Rao , secretary, education
(primary and secondary) of the state government. have now called the bluff that wealth creation
But the risk of children or teachers contracting the Coro- is in conflict with welfare.”
navirus is not quite ruled out until the anti-virus vaccine be- Nirmala Sitharaman, Union finance minister, on the
ing rolled out has attained critical mass. Therefore, the state Union Budget 2021-22 (The Hindu, February 22)
government has issued strict guidelines for school manage-
ments to follow. Under the guidelines written permission “ e government has no business to be in
is required from parents for children to resume in-school business. It is the government’s duty to sup-
classes. “Also, schools are constantly being monitored by port enterprises and businesses. But it is not
education inspectors, assistant education inspectors and essential that it should own and run enter-
district-level officials to ensure they adhere to safety pro- prises.”
tocols,” says Rao. Prime minister Narendra Modi on privatisation
n their part, private (indiatoday.in, February 24)
Oschool managements,
especially those that have “ e regime seems afraid of a new generation
reputations to lose, are
also pulling out all stops to finding its relevance and articulation around
ensure that the prescribed ecology and environmentalism... Suddenly
SoPs are strictly imple- planetary issues, from climate change to the
mented. “The closure of a future of farming or the fate of the tribe — each
school due to management a critical human rights issue — have been de-
negligence could result in fined as anti-national.”
withdrawal of NoC (no ob- Nashy Chauhan Shiv Visvanathan, well-known sociologist, on the arrest
jection certificate) among of young environment activists on charges of sedition
other issues. Therefore, we not only ensure that we get con- by the BJP/NDA government (Telegraph, February 24)
sent letters from parents but have discontinued in-school
classes of primary children who may not be able to fully “By various metrics, China is now 10-15 years
understand the importance of masking, social distancing ahead of India. It reached India’s current per
and safety protocols. Their education will be continued in capita income 15 years ago. Similarly, on the
the online mode until the end of the current academic year,” Human Development Index, it is 15 years
says N as h y Ch auh an , director of the Ahmedabad-based
Anand Niketan Group of schools in Sughad and Satellite ahead of India. And on the more complex
with 3,490 children on their muster rolls. Union Nations Index for Sustainable Develop-
Meanwhile, the silver lining of the pandemic cloud for ment Goals, India is unlikely to get to China’s
private school managements is that teachers have acquired current index level in another decade.”
valuable online teaching skills during the past ten months. T.N. Ninan on the India-China development gap
As a result, several private schools completed the syllabus of (Business Standard, February 27)
the current year and are likely to continue with the blended
learning model well into the next academic year. “We are “Our babus have not evolved as fast to fit in
determined to make up for learning loss of the past ten with the new economic aspirations of India. In
months through accelerated remedial education,” says Rao. fact, ‘babu’ has now become a mildly deroga-
Meanwhile, the discovery of the anti-Covid vaccine and tory word suggesting someone old-fashioned,
rollout of the government’s vaccination drive — over 4.8 who creates red-tape, slows things down and
lakh citizens have taken their first jab — school manage-
ments are cautiously optimistic. “Only when the vaccination enjoys tormenting others with their power.”
drive gets going in right earnest will normal schooling begin Chetan Bhagat, author and columnist, on reforming the
in July-August,” predicts Chauhan. Indian Administrative Service (Times of India, February
Runa Mukherjee Parikh (Ahmedabad) 28)

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