Fr. Cyriac SDB

Itanagar, Jun 7: This is a question everyone is asking these days and there are answers for and against with arguments on both sides as well.
The country and more especially our ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ is going through the high tide of Covid-19 with the arrival of the outstation Arunachalees and others and the curve is showing a higher rise for us and the Northeast.  At this point of time, thinking of life will be more pertinent than thinking of education!  The city of New York has called off this scholastic year and it is the same for some other places as well.  
The much-awaited opening up of religious spaces is not going to take place in our state as per the circular of the Department of Health on Saturday last. That’s indeed a wise decision if you value health and life above all else. Arunachal would do well to keep in mind its vulnerable health infrastructure and challenging connectivity. If schools do open and children and young people who hardly know what social distancing is get infected, the state would find it an uphill task to restore any semblance of normalcy, let alone flatten the Covid-19 curve. Hence, beware!
The state of Kerala which has reached the great heights of excellence in her combat with the pandemic has started the scholastic year 2020-21 as usual on the 1st of June, but ONLINE! If we are to take any cue from the same, virtual learning is going to be the mantra at least for this scholastic year, if not till 2022 as some experts opine.  If religious spaces where people will be together for a maximum of one hour or so cannot be opened up till June end, should we not wait for some more time to open up our educational institutions where children and young people will be rubbing shoulders with each other for about four to six hours or so daily? 
Just a day back the Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences in an interview expressed the hunch that the peak of Covid-19 cases will come up only in about two to three months. If we are to go by the opinions of such experts and if we value life and consider it the most precious gift God has given us, we need to protect it as best as we can.

In the scenario we find ourselves in, education, despite being absolutely important, must wait for a while.
(The writer is the Director of Childline Itanagar and can be reached by mail: cyriacpuli@gmail.com).

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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