Amid threat of an imminent third wave of the pandemic, students attended their classes as schools were reopened across South Coastal Andhra Pradesh on Monday, while authorities began distribution of Jagannanna Vidya Kanuka kits to the students.
Addressing the students of the Municipal High school at Balaji Nagar in Ongole, State Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy said the YSR Congress Party government was committed to providing the best educational opportunities for students on par with the facilities in corporate schools.
As many as 1,341 schools were given a facelift at a cost of ₹286.70 crore under the Mana Badi Nedu-Nadu in the district, he said. The revamp of the infrastructure in another 1,309 schools would be taken up in the second phase. Ongole MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy said the infrastructure upgradation programme in schools was taken up to usher in reverse migration from corporate schools to government schools.
Meanwhile, a section of teachers attended schools sporting black badges in protest against the National Education Policy’s proposal to merge classes from III to V with high school as it would accelerate the rate of dropout of students from schools.
Parents of some students at the Bandlamita Government Girls school in Ongole expressed fears over the reopening of schools at a time when reports of young people being more vulnerable to the infection during the third wave were surfacing.
In Nellore, District Collector K.V.N.Chakradhar Babu said infrastructure in about 1,000 schools had been upgraded at a cost of over ₹200 crore. Distributing Jagannanna Vidya Kunka kits along with Nellore Rural MLA Kottamreddy Sridhar Reddy, he said as many as 2.72 lakh students in the district would be provided the kit in a fortnight from Monday. Arrangements had been made for vaccinating school staff on top priority basis, he said.
