It's been a year and a half since the schools have been shut due to the pandemic. The 'lockdowns' and subsequent 'opening-ups' don't have opening schools on their agenda.
Swimming pools, theatre complexes, gymnasiums have higher preference over schools. The fundamental fear: what if children are affected with the virus? But none of the policy makers are mulling over the cascading psychological crevasse left on children due to their confinement within the walls of the house.
Experts are of the opinion that continuous indoor-stay with reduced opportunity to mingle with peers, combined with increase in screen-time, is a perfect recipe for future myopia.
Learning to write and speak for kids requires a whole gamut of stimuli, that includes hearing the words, gauging the tone change of voice, movement of muscle forming the speech, accompanied by facial expressions and gestures.
This limited exposure to appropriate cognitive and social stimuli results in delays in social-communication development. The offline classes set the trajectory of learning for children in the right direction.
Policymakers must devise a safety net for protecting our precious future generations from this jeopardizing situation.
