Pandemic resilience of educational institutions

The rapid surge in COVID-19 cases in Assam calls for extra precaution to remain protected from infection by the virus but the State Government has not pressed the panic button as the situation is still manageable. If the spread of infection is not checked, disruption in offline classes and examinations of educational institutions may linger for a longer period than anticipated. Despite the state recording the highest single-day rise on Tuesday since the outbreak of the pandemic, hospitalization has remained low which has boosted the confidence level in the government to rule out stricter curbs like lockdown. Daily positive cases have crossed the 8,000 mark but hospitalisations have remained at 12 per cent. Double-dose vaccination has lessened the severity but the rise in the number of deaths is a grim reminder for the elderly population and those with comorbidity not to drop the guards under any circumstance. Every single life matters and achieving a nil death figure must remain the top priority of pandemic response by the government and the society. The State government has fixed February 15 for the completion of double vaccination of the entire 2.20 lakh adult population. Meeting the deadline is crucial but is a challenging task given the large number of healthcare workers infected by the virus. Health experts have cautioned further spike in daily positivity rates and increase in active caseload towards the end of this month, and if the infection continues to surge beyond this month, it may require increasing the pace of daily vaccination to achieve the target. The state has so far given double doses to 1.72 lakh adults while the second dose is pending for about 48 lakh adults. Revised guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for testing has come as a relief for patients visiting casualty or emergency departments of government and private hospitals. The guidelines say that such patients need not be made to wait for COVID test results unless the patient specifically has COVID related symptoms. This, however, increases the risk of asymptomatic patients mixing up with other patients and requires the hospital authorities to strictly enforce the proper wearing of masks on hospital premises to prevent the spread of infection. Fixing the total quarantine period including days of hospitalisation and home quarantine have been reduced to seven days except for those requiring a longer period of hospitalisation beyond the first week. This new rule will limit the requirement of a leave period in government or private offices maximum to seven days and reduce disruption in work if any employee is infected by the COVID-19 virus. Lessons must be learnt from the loss of learning to a large number of students during the lockdown and closure of educational institutions in the previous two waves. The State government has already shut down offline classes up to class VII in Guwahati and up to class V in the rest of the state following a spike in cases. The spread of infections has disrupted offline classes forcing many educational institutions to return to online mode but deprivation of those not having smartphone or internet access from online classes have escaped the attention of policymakers and society. Even those having access to the internet experienced multiple issues of mental health and loss of learning due to long exposure to small screens. Apart from keeping the educational institutions safe, keeping the students and teachers protected from virus infection is critical to avoid suspension of offline classes. The Education department undertaking a special awareness drive among students, teachers, parents, public transport operators, school bus operators for strict adherence to COVID-safety protocols, wearing the masks can help prevent frequent disruptions. Student bodies, teachers' bodies, NGOs, panchayats need to be roped in to run such campaigns. Assam Higher Secondary Education Council has announced dates for class 12 final examinations, and this should put the spotlight on making educational institutions COVID-safe in pandemic discourse. Less severity of infection in the current wave should not leave any room for complacency for the simple reason that detection of COVID-19 infection among students and teachers will continue to worry the parents. Disruption in offline classes is unwarranted but will be unavoidable if the infection continues unabated. Vaccine builds up the protection from the severity of symptoms but does not prevent reinfection which has kept the worries of disruption in offline classes. Running classes in hybrid mode-offline for some students and online for others cannot compensate for the loss of learning. It also creates an additional burden on teachers and affects their teaching qualities. Increasing the pace of vaccination, ramping up testing of symptomatic patients and strict enforcement of COVID-safety protocols will help increase the resilience of people against severe symptoms. However, the worries of disruption in offline classes will continue to grip the educational institutions. The government and society need to pay special attention to evolving pragmatic strategies for building the resilience of educational institutions against pandemic disruption.