Officials have had a number of discussions on the issue of reopening of schools, but there is no official announcement as yet.

BENGALURU: The decision on reopening schools in Karnataka will be taken after discussions with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in the next four or five days, Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar said here on Wednesday.

Kumar, who is out of home quarantine after being treated for the novel coronavirus, was speaking to the media after a meeting with officials of the department of public instruction and representatives of primary and high school teachers’ associations. 

Officials have had a number of discussions on the issue of reopening of schools, but there is no official announcement as yet. The final date should be known after the meeting with Yediyurappa. Over the next two days, officials of the departments of public instruction, social welfare, minority welfare, rural development, transport and health will convene a discussion with representatives of the School Development and Monitoring Committee and educationists, and come out with a comprehensive report.

DDPIs and BEOs have already held preliminary discussions. The report will be submitted to the Chief Minister, who will also be apprised of the statewide situation, and only then a decision on reopening of schools will be arrived at, Suresh Kumar said. The government stalled the Vidyagama project after declaring three-week mid-term holidays from October 12, and private institutes were also not permitted to open, despite several pleas by the managements.

Kumar said that although the rights of children and their health takes precedence, it is also important to think about students being kept away from learning processes for a prolonged period of time. “Children’s rights, welfare, parents’ panic , teachers’ rights, are all important to us, hence the government has not made any hasty decision on reopening schools,” he said. 

Various stakeholders have been consulted to ensure that schools open with necessary precautions in place, Kumar said. The department also discussed the education model of various states in light of Covid-19, and weighed their pros and cons.

Lecturers of government and aided colleges have been given the option to work from home from November 4 to 11. They have been demanding ‘Work From Home’ since October 12, due to the spike in Covid numbers.

Teachers are expected to prepare for digital learning, online and offline teaching and study material preparation, among others, during the period, the order from the department of higher education read. 
T M Manjunath, president of Karnataka Government College Teachers Association, told TNIE, “This will be a break from coming to college amid the pandemic.” However, teachers who are called on duty by the school principal for emergency work and examination related work, must compulsorily be present, said Sheethal Hiremath, under secretary, higher education department. Meanwhile, Manjunath said, “There is much scepticism among parents for offline classes. So far, no consent letters have been received.” ENS

Once a Covid-19 vaccine is successfully tested and gets the official nod, the State Government will give it to the people free of cost, he reiterated.

Under fire from the opposition for announcing free Covid-19 vaccination for the Bihar electorate in its Assembly poll manifesto, leaders from the ruling BJP in Karnataka are now in a damage-control exercise.  

Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan on Saturday declared in Belagavi that the State Government will provide Covid-19 vaccination free of cost to all the people of Karnataka once it is ready after successful trials.

Speaking to media persons at Belagavi airport, Ashwath Narayan hit out at former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for challenging the government to announce free Covid-19 vaccination for the people of Karnataka. “The State Government is already treating Covid patients free of cost and all health care facilities to people from all classes are being provided,” he pointed out.  

“The government has taken these decisions in the interest of people and to control Covid-19 from spreading,’’ DyCM Ashwath Narayan said. Once a Covid-19 vaccine is successfully tested and gets the official nod, the State Government will give it to the people free of cost, he reiterated.

To a question on why his party announced the free vaccine for the people of Bihar ahead of the elections there, he reasoned, “It has been done to take the people into confidence and give them hope of coming out of the crisis.

But our opposition leader here (Siddaramaiah) is politicising the issue to gain some mileage out of it.” On Siddaramaiah’s objection to reopening of degree colleges, Ashwath Narayan said, “He too was Chief Minister earlier and I didn’t expect such a reaction from him. Colleges are being restarted after considering the prevailing conditions and by taking all the necessary safety precautions.’’ There will be online and offline classes and students, in consultation with their parents, can opt for either of them, he stressed.

He claimed that the guidelines drawn up for the offline study system has been welcomed by students and parents. “The opposition parties, which never carried out any task effectively during their tenure in the past, should stop teaching us now, he said.

BENGALURU:  While there is no official announcement yet about the start of the academic year offline for college students, top officials from the education department have indicated that colleges will reopen offline in the first week of November, and preparations for the same are on.Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, who is also Higher Education Minister, told reporters on Monday that the department is preparing to reopen colleges in November. UGC has come out with an advisory for state governments to reopen colleges, he said.

The DyCM had said this will be confirmed after a meeting with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa,  which is scheduled in three days, a source said. A top source from the department confirmed to TNIE that the department is looking to open colleges in the first week of November. However, students will be given a choice between offline and online classes, the source added.

A committee of current vice-chancellors of universities, that met on Saturday, also reportedly suggested that classes be held on Sundays too, if need be.“The committee can only recommend how colleges can be opened, and not the schedule, which has to be decided by the UGC and government. A hybrid model of education, instead of going completely offline, will help decongest the campus and hostels,

In the meantime, the department has also mandated Covid-19 tests for teaching and non-teaching staff in private, aided and government degree colleges that come under the ambit of the state education department. Personnel in the office of the joint director have also been asked to undergo the test.The official said there is no confirmation whether students will be subject to it before commencement of offline classes. Meanwhile, AICTE has allowed engineering colleges to start the academic session from December 1. It was earlier scheduled for November 1.AICTE has also extended admission deadlines for first-year courses in engineering colleges to November 30. This is owing to “prolonged emergent conditions and requests from state governments and ongoing admission processes of IITs and NITs”.

Bengaluru:Karnataka has reported 5,872new cases of COVID-19 and 88 related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 7,82,773 and the death toll to 10,696, the health department said on Wednesday.

The day also saw 9,289 patients getting discharged after recovery.

Out of 5,872 fresh cases reported today, 2,717 cases were from Bengaluru urban alone.

As of October 21 evening, cumulatively 7,82,773 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 10,696 deaths and 6,71,618 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

It said, out of 1,00,440 active cases,99,493 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and stable, while 947 are in ICU.

A total of over 69,52,835 samples have been tested so far, out of which 1,08,241 were tested on Wednesday alone, and 21,623 among them were rapid antigen tests

Karnataka conducted 1,08,241 Covid tests across 155 labs in a single day today, Health Minister K Sudhakar said.

“So far we conducted 69,52,835 tests with a positivity rate of 5.2 per cent..947 patients out of 1,00,440 active cases i.e.0.94 per cent cases are being treated in ICU.

State’s case fatality rate stands at 1.49 per cent,” he said in a tweet.

Out of 88 deaths reported today, 53 are from Bengaluru urban, followed by Dakshina Kannada (9), Tumakuru (4), Hassan, Kalaburagi and Mysuru (3), Ballari, Bengaluru Rural and Dharwad (2), Belagavi, Chitradurga, Davngere, Koppal, Ramanagara, Shivamogga and Vijayapura (1).

Most of the dead are either with a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) or Influenza-like illness (ILI).

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban accounted for 2,717, Bengaluru Rural 366, Davangere 304, Mysuru 220, Dakshina Kannada 215, Mandya 208, Shivamogga 177, Ballari 145, Tumakuru 143, Hassan 140, followed by others.

Bengaluru urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 3,15,559 infections, followed by Mysuru 45,864 and Ballari 36,221.

Among discharges too, Bengaluru urban tops the list with total 2,48,584 discharges, followed by Mysuru 39,886 and Ballari 33,816.

Indian Academy of Paediatrics also said that such a move in the US and Korea has led to a huge rise in community infections.

BENGALURU:  Citing the high number of Covid-19 cases, and rapid spread of the illness in closed environments like classrooms, the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP), Karnataka chapter, has urged the State government not to reopen educational institutions anytime soon. 

In a recent letter to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, the association said the time is not yet ripe for reopening of schools and colleges. Such a move in the US and Korea has led to a huge rise in community infections, they said. 

“In the interest of the health of children and community at large, we urge you to take a decision based on scientific and epidemiological data… (We are) in the process of bringing out a set of recommendations, which shall be shared with you immediately on its release,” said the letter signed by Dr Shantharaj A, president, and Dr Natesh B H, secretary of IAP Karnataka.ADVERTISING

The association has 32,000 members nationwide and 2,600 pediatricians statewide. 

Dr Sharath Chand S, vice-president of Bengaluru division, said, “Kids will not be able to follow wearing of masks and social distancing in schools. If one child contracts the virus, the entire family, including parents and grandparents, will be affected. This will create a burden on health infrastructure. Children are fragile and Covid-19 will increase their mortality as well as morbidity, although until now we have fortunately seen most kids remaining asymptomatic, on testing positive.” 

He urged educational institutions to remain closed for this academic year, or at least till a vaccine is found. There is no guarantee on how long antibodies remain after patients recover.

“We need to understand this disease well. We will not lose anything by giving up an academic year,” Dr Chand added. 

President-elect of IAP Karnataka, Dr Ashok R Dastar said the decision to reopen schools must be taken at the district level, based on local and epidemiological data.

“If a district does 100 tests a day, and less than five people show up positive, or if there are 20 or fewer cases in a district of 10 lakh population, such a place can consider reopening schools. Teachers and doctors here can take lessons on wearing masks, social distancing and other norms. The decision must be taken in consultation with parents and pediatricians,” he said.

Children remaining away from schools for 7-8 months has impacted their learning, but at the same time, we must not put them at risk and need to take parents’ opinion, he added. 

Pre-university syllabus to be cut by 30% 

Although classes are yet to start officially, the Department of Pre-University Education has taken steps to reduce the syllabus by 30%, due to “the variation in the annual academic activity this year due to the Covid-19 situation”.

The move comes after the Centre recommended that the syllabus for Classes 1-12 be reduced by 30%.

The board noted that it would reduce the syllabus, similar to the manner in which the Central Board of Secondary Education had done for four subjects – Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Biology.

For other subjects, members of the textbook creation and revision committees have already been approached.  

Various committees have thus far given their reports and recommendations on which verse, prose, chapter and sub-chapter should be cut off. 

The government is yet to announce the changes.Of 34 subjects offered in Class 11 and 12 state board, all except Carnatic Music will have omissions.

Carnatic Music has been kept out of the revision process for the past two years as not a single student had enrolled for it, said Snehal R, director of PU education.