Limalenden Longkumer
Mokokchung | July 19
With the Nagaland State government further easing COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and ‘Unlock 3’ in progress, many parents of school students in Mokokchung have voiced out concerns about allowing schools and colleges to reopen.
Mokokchung is one of the worst hit districts in Nagaland and has been recording an upsurge in the number of fresh infections during the past few months.
As per the state government’s Unlock-3 order, colleges and higher secondary schools have been allowed to reopen from July 26 while “other classes” are to reopen from August 2. Officials in the School Education Department in Mokokchung could not clarify what “other classes” meant and informed that they have not received any official communication from the government on the matter till date.
Meanwhile, a concerned parent expressed that there was “an element of self-contradiction” in the state government’s Unlock-3 notification.
“On one hand, the government is strongly insinuating the teachers to get vaccinated which appear to be an alternative to forced vaccination, because of the threat of affecting their salaries etc., are attached and orders them to enter classrooms. On the other hand, the students who are to return to classrooms are not vaccinated because persons of 18 years of age and below are not vaccinated as of now,” reasoned Ngangshi Ao, a concerned parent and resident of Kumlong Ward, Mokokchung town.
He also added that almost all the students of class 12 and below are under the age of 18 years. A senior district administration officer in Mokokchung as well as a medical practitioner overseeing the vaccination drive in the district confirmed that there was no vaccination for those under the age of 18, validating the concerned parent’s claims.
The concerned parent argued that this exercise presents a situation where the vaccinated teachers who are still “possible carriers of coronavirus according to medical experts,” are to mingle with unvaccinated vulnerable children and minors in classrooms. “To make the situation more threatening, most people, once vaccinated become less careful about maintaining SOPs,” he observed, further adding that this state of affairs drives students and parents into a difficult position.
“There is no point questioning the logic behind this notification because there is no logic to it at all in this,” he surmised, and questioned, “What is the big idea behind this notification?” He concluded that “many of the profit making proprietors of schools and employers of teachers may be less concerned but many parents are very worried.”
A mother of three students, who did not wish to be named, expressed similar apprehension. She said that even if the schools ensure strict SOPs, the problem persists when the students are exposed on their way to school and back.
