DIMAPUR: The All Nagaland Private Schools Association (ANPSA) has urged the Dimapur deputy commissioner to either revoke or modify the order asking all schools in the district to suspend physical classes from August 21 to August 26 due to rising cases of conjunctivitis among school students.
The Dimapur DC, in an order on August 19, following consultations with the district officials of the Nagaland health and family welfare department and school education department, directed all schools in Dimapur district to suspend physical classes for six days from August 21 to contain the spread of the eye flu among the school-going students.
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In a letter to the DC, ANPSA (central) president Nini Sekhose and general secretary PJ Nathan informed that as per the verbal direction of Nagaland Board of Secondary Education (NBSE) chairman, the ANPSA (central) had conducted a survey of schools on the prevalence of eye flu among the students.
The letter said many of the schools reported that the infection was present in their schools but not to an alarming extent while some schools reported nil prevalence.
As per the schools, only a few students, about two or three, were absent on a daily basis because of the disease, it said.
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Also read: Nagaland: Dimapur schools ordered to close from Aug 21 to 26 to contain conjunctivitis
“There was no problem in continuing physical classes due to this disease,” the ANPSA said.
“We have seen that though a few students get infected, they recover fast, and therefore, there has been no significant number of absentees in the schools due to the eye flu. We are able to carry on physical classes taking care to adhere to the recommendation of the health department in preventing the flu,” it said.
The letter further said all the schools under the NBSE are now in the process of conducting mid-term exams for Class 12 while some schools are also conducting exams for lower classes.
It said if the schools in Dimapur are closed down for a week, they will not be able to complete the exams in the given timeframe thereby affecting the completion of the syllabus. It added 99% of schools in the state are affiliated to NBSE.
It also pointed out that there are also all Catholic schools in the state which come under the NBSE and that they have common question papers for their schools. It will not be possible for them to bring out another common question paper for Dimapur district alone as the exams are slated to begin by August 21, 2023.
In view of the above, the ANPSA requested the DC to allow the schools to remain open voluntarily so that the exams can be conducted uninterrupted.