PANAJI
The expert committee on Covid comprising doctors, pediatricians, epidemiologists and other experts has concluded that commencing physical classes for students of classes I to VIII is okay in the current situation.
The expert committee which met on Friday is expected to make a detailed recommendation and submit it to the Covid Task Force which will take the final call on whether to recommence physical classes in schools.
Once the Task Force gives its recommendation, the State government will then take the decision after consulting with officials of the Education Department, School managements and the community of teachers and parents.
At the deliberations held on Friday the expert panel has come to the conclusion that classes for students from Std I to Std VIII can commence as the Covid pandemic situation in Goa is ‘quite safe’.
According to Dr Shekhar Salkar who is a member of the expert panel all the pediatricians who attended the meeting had a strong opinion that classes should start.
"We have decided to recommend commencement of schools for classes I to VIII," Salkar said, adding that the experts felt it is quite safe now.
"The positivity rate for this week has been below 1 per-cent. It is the correct time to start," he said.
When every other activity is going on normally, schools should start too,” asserted Dr Salkar. The oncologist also added that the State of Goa will commence vaccination drives as soon as the Central government gives clearance for vaccination of children.
The expert committee broke down detailed statistics provided by the State Epidemiologist Utkarsh Betodkar where the prevalence of the Covid disease among children in Goa was pegged at a static 10 per cent over a period of the immediate preceding three months and hospital admissions among children was nil even though classes had commenced for Std IX to Std XII students in physical mode.
“Hospital admission of children with only Covid is nil,” Dr Betodkar disclosed.
Dr A P Bandodkar, a naturopath from Margao opines that, “authorities should certainly give a thought to reopening of schools, but the decision to vaccinate children should not be taken in haste.”
Earlier in the first week of November, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant had announced that no official decision had been taken as yet with regard to opening of schools in physical mode for classes below Std VIII.
However, many school managements and also parents had shown enthusiasm in physical/offline classes. The Chief Minister had asserted that feedback would be taken from the Directorate of Education before taking any final decision.
