Omicron scare puts parents in a tizzy

Hyderabad: With the Omicron scare spreading its tentacles across the globe and in the State as well in the last one week, parents have started worrying over whether they should continue sending their wards to school. Though the State is yet to register its first Omicron case, several educational institutions have already reported several Covid-19 […]

Hyderabad: With the Omicron scare spreading its tentacles across the globe and in the State as well in the last one week, parents have started worrying over whether they should continue sending their wards to school.

Though the State is yet to register its first Omicron case, several educational institutions have already reported several Covid-19 positive cases. A case in point, 27 students of a residential school in Sangareddy district recently tested positive while another was 50 MBBS students of a medical college in Karimnagar district testing positive.

These Covid-19 cases among students have left parents in a tizzy. Several parents who were sending their wards to school are now rethinking their decision. In fact, some parents like Ashish Naredi have stopped sending their children to school.

“With many educational institutions, particularly schools reporting Covid-19 positive cases, I stopped sending my child to the school. Given the threat of Omicron, several parents like me are giving a break to offline classes and getting their kids to switch over to online classes,” Ashish said.

Parents wanted the government and school managements to completely switch back to the online mode of classes.

“The present situation is very worrying for parents. My kid is spending six to seven hours at school daily and there are high chances of infection there. Now that positive cases are being reported in schools, the schools should shift to online classes keeping the safety of children in view,” Prasad Kumar, another parent said.

Not just the safety of their children, parents are also concerned about the health of aged individuals at home as children may pass on the infection to them.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of the children and family at home. The schools should not insist on parents sending their children for offline classes. Online classes should be offered to students,” Hyderabad Schools Parents Association joint secretary, K Venkat Sainath said.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the Directorate of School Education has ruled out closure of schools. According to the official, 95 per cent of staff in the schools including private ones have got at least a single shot of vaccine and over 52 per cent have taken two doses of vaccine against the Covid-19.

“There is no compulsion for students to take offline classes as digital classes are also being conducted. The department is continuously monitoring the situation at the ground level. The syllabus will go as per the earlier announced academic calendar,” the official added.

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