Citing behaviour changes in young children and loss of foundational learnings, parents in Bengaluru have demanded to reopen pre-schools. They have started an online petition pleading their case and asking authorities to form a plan on reopening pre-schools to ensure the holistic development of our future generations.
The prolonged school closures and is having an impact on children not only academically but also mentally. Parents claim to have noticed behavioural issues and stress in their children. Kids are showing increases in anxiety, depression, and self-harm since the start of the pandemic.
In their petition, parents claim, “many pre-school children have not started school because parents see no point in bringing 3-year olds to online classes, while a very large number of children do not even have access to online devices.”
“Little children need to run around, be free, meet their friends and have access to regular, structured learning in order to grow and develop into the citizens we hope they will be tomorrow,” states the petition.
Parents urged that a large body of evidence suggesting that children below 10 are much less vulnerable to severe disease.
As reported by news18.com earlier, ICMR DG Dr. Balram Bhargava younger children have “much better ability to handle the virus than adults” and schools for younger kids must be reopened first, however, as a current practice states are reopening schools for senior classes 9 to 12 first.
Recently, former ICMR scientist Dr Raman Gangakhedkar told News18.com, “There should be a decentralized approach to open schools. Decisions (to open school) should be taken based on the number of cases in a certain area.”
Till now, we understand that the children have a stronger innate immunity that protects them from developing the severe Covid19 disease, however, we should not ignore the recent studies and research papers that point towards the long covid or post Covid19 syndrome noticed in children as well. We need to be cautious, said the top scientist.
Karnataka had first reopened colleges followed by classes 9 to 12 and classes 6 to 8. The decision on reopening classes 1 to 5 will be taken after the festival season. There is no decision yet on the reopening of pre-schools.
“This is not to say older children should stay at home. Adolescents need schools as much as young children. As a community, is it not time to figure out how in-person education can be provided to all children – and decide clear protocols for closures and re-openings as we slowly navigate our way out of the pandemic,” states the petition.
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