New Delhi: The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has brought about a lot of things at hold and while things are gradually going back to normal, some walks of life have come to a standstill in multiple senses. Education, for instance, is a matter of grave concern. While it was being contemplated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development as to when should school and other educational institutions reopen, a decision regarding the same has been made as of now.
As has been announced via a press release by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday, all educational institutions will remain shut until August 31. The said release was regarding new guidelines about how will things progress in phase 3 of the ongoing Unlock process. And as has been stated in the Unlock 3 guidelines, it has been concluded after consultation with the states and the UTs that schools, colleges, and coaching institutions are to remain shut.
Meanwhile, a direct implication of this also raises a question regarding the guidelines from the University Grants Commissions regarding the exams for final year students. Despite the fact that the state and the UTs are not in favour of resuming schools, etc, the decision of final year exams is rather unclear. None the less, there are petitions and pleas that are yet to be heard as we await a final decision regarding the same now that it is at the apex court.
In addition, what is also worrying is how there are so many institutions that are now being used as quarantine centres for COVID-19 patients and are associated with the fight in one way or the other. In fact, over 600 institutions were already serving has COVID centres back in May 2020.
While this decision sure comes as a welcome move from the government, a lot of the online education processes are still not as seamless as physical learning, hence, a growing concern.
