Students slam Maharashtra government for not reopening schools, threaten to hold protest

The Maharashtra government's decision of putting a hold on reopening schools from August 17 has been receiving a lot of flak from various corners. The Maharashtra Students Union (MASU), an independent student organisation has slammed the decision and has warned of intense protest if the schools across the state don't open up any time soon.

MASU President, Siddharth Ingle released a statement on his social media handles that read, "The Maharashtra government should take immediate action to address this and start schools and colleges immediately, otherwise, the Maharashtra Students Union will take to the streets in a democratic way to protest against the government for justice." While speaking to EdexLive, Ingle said,  "We are planning a protest in a day or two. We will be sending a letter to the Government of Maharashtra asking them to restart schools." Political parties are protesting for their own gains but permissions are denied if students want to fight for their rights, he said. "We are expecting a large-scale protest as several students have already been reaching out to us," Ingle said.

Maharastra's U-turn has also been viewed in a critical lens by the Jana Arogya Abhiyan (JAA), which is a coalition of organisations that are active in the public health sector. JAA. “We are shocked to know that the expert [health] taskforce in Maharashtra has opposed the decision of the Education Department to restart schools. Such a decision should be taken based on the science of public health,” said Dr Anant Phadke, co-convenor, in an open letter released by the organisation.

READ ALSO: Karnataka to open high schools in districts which have less than 2 per cent of positivity of COVID infection

Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan recently warned that any more delay in reopening schools could haunt the country for decades to come as children from economically weaker backgrounds don't have access to digital devices. He also warned of huge dropout rates as children won't be able to cope with the education if they are back to school after any more delays.

Earlier, parents had expressed worry regarding sending their children back to school. Amit Hoshing, a member of the Nagpur Parent Association (private schools) had told Edexlive that despite medical professionals assuring the safety of the children, many are worried to send their children to school. "We don't want to take that risk. What if some child gets severely ill because of COVID for whatever health reasons he or she might have?"