Goemakrponn desk
PANAJI: Last week, after the Task Force, approved the opening of schools from Standard I to VIIIth from November 22, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was quick to intervene and clarify that no decision was taken on school reopening.
He had said that a final decision on school reopening would be taken by Saturday, November 20.
However, as India’s 52nd International Film Festival was inaugurated on Saturday, the CM seems to have forgotten that he has to decide on schools resumption.
While on Saturday, he was busy with an opening at IFFI and clicking pictures with film stars.
He was also busy with the mega event on Sunday and Monday.
Last Tuesday, the Goa government’s task force on COVID-19 recommended starting in-person classes for students of grades 1 to 8 from November 22 with safety protocols. A meeting of the task force, chaired by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, took stock of the existing COVID-19 situation in the state before giving the go-ahead for reopening schools for students of classes 1 to 8.
After the meeting, Sawant said that though the task force has recommended reopening schools for offline classes, the state government will take a final call after considering logistic issues.
In-person teaching sessions in schools for students of classes 9 to 12 are already on in the state.
The CM said he has asked the education department to provide details of schools which have more than 1,000 students. “I have asked the department to submit a plan on how they will manage such a large number of students,” he said.
The department will have to provide details of infrastructure available in these schools before going ahead with their reopening, Sawant said.
He said when schools reopen, all SOPs related to COVID-19 will have to followed by management.
Dean of Goa Medical College and Hospital Dr Shivanand Bandekar, a member of the task force, said the COVID-19 positivity rate in Goa has consistently remained below 1 per cent, which prompted them to suggest reopening of schools. Positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus out of those tested.
“Schools and students will have to follow COVID-19-appropriate behaviour,” he said. The CM said the state Directorate of Health Services has been asked to design standard protocols for students. As many as 23 persons tested positive for coronavirus, while 20 recovered from the infection in Goa on Tuesday, an official said. With this, the tally of infections has reached 1,78,533, while the recoveries stood at 1,74,905 in Goa, where 3,376 coronavirus patients have died so far.
