The Karnataka Education Minister S Suresh Kumar on Wednesday announced that the state government will decide on schools reopening in the state after consulting with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. He added that the state government was concerned about children's education in the state and the number of children who could drop out if schools do not reopen for long. However, he said that the state government is not in a hurry to reopen schools in the state.
Suresh Kumar said that the education department will hold meetings with several other departments, including the health department, transport department and social welfare department, this week. A report will be sent to the Chief Minister before deciding on the issue.
After the Andhra Pradesh government decided to reopen schools in three phases, the Karnataka government, too, felt the need to deliberate on this model before announcing its final decision. The online meeting was convened but due to technical glitches, it had to be called off abruptly.
The Education Minister added that the state, too, has agreed to reopen colleges from November 17. Meanwhile, the state is also witnessing a trend of COVID-19 cases coming down considerably.
Students of private schools have been attending online classes since June while students of government schools have not had online classes. A Vidyagama programme was started to aid continuous learning for the students of government schools. As part of this initiative, teachers were going to various regions where these students lived and taught them in community spaces. This, however, had to be stopped in October after a spike in COVID-19 cases were reported.
"Experts feel that prolonged closure of schools can have a negative impact on children's mind as well. Therefore, we are examining all these aspects before arriving at a final decision," Suresh Kumar said.