Reopening of schools has nothing to do with the transmission of COVID, it can happen at home: Edu Min Ramesh Pokhriyal

If safety guidelines are followed properly starting from their houses to their schools, no student will get infected, Union Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal said responding to a question from a student during the #EducationMinisterGoesLive webinar on Thursday.

Emphasising the importance of following protocols he added that wearing masks is extremely important while stepping out of the house. "Everyone starting from students, parents, to staff and teachers at schools have to be careful at every step. We conducted the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, the biggest exam in the world amid the pandemic, thus when safety guidelines are followed I believe we can overcome such obstacles like the pandemic," the union minister said.

Pokhriyal further added that "We conducted JEE, NEET exams, keeping in mind that a precious year of students does not get wasted. The number of exam centres were increased and students were given the opportunity to change their exam centres. We could have cancelled it but we thought of our students' future and conducted them."

Ahead of the session, the Union Minister had asked the people to share their concerns with the Education Ministry to help the students.

"Dear teachers, parents and students, happy to share that I am going to live on December 10 at 10 am to talk about upcoming competitive/board exams with you. Drop your concerns below using #EducationMinisterGoesLive," he tweeted.

In a video shared by him on Twitter, Pokhriyal congratulated the teachers and parents to help students adapt to the online modes of education amid the COVID-19 pandemic.