Maharashtra School: Education experts oppose decision to close schools in state

The Maharashtra government has decided to close all the schools in the state till February 15, except for the 10th and 12th, on the backdrop of Corona and Omicron. The decision to close schools in the state is being opposed in many places. 

In the third wave, as the number of corona patients was increasing, it was decided to close schools in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik and Aurangabad. It was also decided that schools in other places would not be closed, suggesting that decisions should be made at the local level based on the Corona situation. However, in the guidelines issued on Saturday night, January 8, it was decided that all schools across the state, except Class X and XII, would remain closed till February 15. This is now being strongly opposed by education experts, teachers and parents in the state

What exactly will be the effect of school closure?

• Students are likely to move away from the stream of learning.
• Writing, reading, comprehension capacity is declining due to school closure.
• The lack of online education in rural areas is creating an educational gap between students in urban and rural areas
• Students who do not have access to online education suffer huge academic losses
• The closure of the school will have an impact on the annual assessment of students

In the last two years, when schools were closed, every effort was made to make online education accessible to all students, but it cannot be said that it has created an alternative system for education.