What's more important for Students: Knowledge or Attendance?

The effect of the COVID 19 pandemic has been seen not only in the economic and social aspects of nations, the educational sectors also have been severely affected.  Children and students waiting to appear in their examinations have started getting stressed and anxious. There is obviously a stressful situation but it’s not just us. The whole world is facing the same, so any steps taken without proper analysis might result in a huge loss. And when it's about children, the future generation; we must be even more cautious.

Recently, a letter was sent to the Deputy Prime Minister and the Coordinator of the Corona Prevention and Control High-Level Coordinating Committee, Mr. Ishwor Pokharel by the School Administrators and Associations demanding to be allowed to operate the schools from Asadh 15 in the presence of students with optimum caution against the disease. They also mentioned allowing schools in Red as well as Yellow Zone to operate fully or partially after the analysis by concerned local authorities. The letter also demands to create an environment for teachers and staff to go to school from Asadh 1.

The biggest concern here is when the infections are being seen in hundreds of people every day, is it logical for associations like these to demand to operate schools? Although it may look feasible in Green Zones what about the children in Red and Yellow Zones? Will their family feel secure to send their children to schools? Will the children themselves be able to walk into schools and share the classroom with many other children with the same confidence as before? Will the schools operate smoothly?  Also, are all the teachers available in the area to attend or will they have to travel from somewhere else? Will that not pose the threat of virus transmission? And forget about the Rapid Test, here in our country tests are shown negative first and then positive after the death of people.

Moreover, it is very important for everyone to understand that health comes first!! We all know that the educational business has become one of the leading businesses in our country with a very high fee structure in most of the schools. With the extension of lockdown for more than three months, children have been staying at home and so are the teachers. Yes, the business is down but it is absolutely not logical to demand the physical presence of students in school for education. As mentioned in the proposal, they have mentioned operating each class with a maximum of 20 students. How do they plan to adjust the students who used to be 50 to 60 in numbers in each classroom?

Also, the demand for conducting withheld examinations as soon as possible and admitting them for “Provisional Courses” sound like they are desperate for business!! Why not implement a new system of examination that can be done digitally? A thought!!

Check out different assessment methods!

The number of COVID 19 patients has reached over 3200 with 13 deaths, most of which were reported after the death of patients and some even after funerals. Although we have due respect to all those health workers, we certainly are not satisfied with the testing and control mechanism of our country. When it is widely known that children and elderly people are at higher risks, associations are eagerly asking for permission to operate schools and colleges which comprise of the most number of individuals at a time.

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Since panic causes more harm than the actual disease; it’s time for us to stay calm and make the right decisions. Yes, the growth of children and their knowledge seem like they are on hold, but it is necessary to realize that there are a lot of ways to learn. This state of a pandemic can be used to enhance the interpersonal skills of children rather than demanding them to be present at schools. We hope the concerned authorities will make the right decision keeping both the physical and mental health of children in mind.

Learn about how you can prevent getting infected here: Diet and Lifestyle during COVID19.