The schools have been reopened across Kashmir now, which not only is great news but gives a sense of things returning to normalcy after remaining disturbed due to the chaos created by the COVID-19 pandemic—which still hasn’t gone anywhere and continues to be around.
However, the move of getting the kids back to schools might end up creating a difficult situation not only for parents to deal with, but the administration as well.
No matter the kids falling in the 15-17 age group have been vaccinated, mostly, the age group that hasn’t been vaccinated may turn out to be prone to the risk of COVID-19.
At the same time, we have to take into account the fact that there has not been any vaccine approved for children below 15 and such a precarious situation might end up being a difficult one for the children, parents as well as the management of schools. Maybe, there is more research going on the development of the vaccine for the children of this age group, but nothing concrete has come out so far.
Also, several reports were put out, stating that children below a specific age are not affected by the COVID-19, however, the fact remains that we have seen several such cases where children as little as toddlers get affected by the COVID infection.
The question that needs to be asked is: who is going to be responsible for the safety of kids who have now returned to their schools. No matter, the Government has issued a detailed document on how the schools should operate, but then, everyone knows how things are handled on a lower level. Plus, what might aggravate the situation is the bogus vaccination that has been rampant and has not been addressed so far.
We have seen people having ‘fully vaccinated’ certificates, but in reality, they never received their vaccine jab. If such people penetrate, with kids around, then the situation has got all the ways to get out of control.
The topmost priority of the administration, at present, should be the safety and security of children who now remain in their schools from 10 to 3 and for that, there is a need for further fine-tuning the process of return of kids to schools.
While there is no denying the fact that the education of children has taken a hit, safety should be paramount. There is a need for handling the return of children with the utmost care, because, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over yet.