If school reopens from 1 Sept, then there arises no necessity of giving mobile to students: HBS

Aug. 18: “If schools are reopened from 1 September, 2021, there there would be no necessity of giving mobile phone to the students. Anyway, people will criticise us for giving mobile to the students. We earlier stated that if the 3rd wave of Covid steps in, then we would have given mobile phones so that the students of the government schools can carry on classes through online mode. But now, if we open the schools from 1 September, then there would be no reason to give them mobiles,” stated Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, while interacting with the media on Wednesday.

Earlier during the Budget Session, Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma stated, “In order to ensure that studies of our children are not disrupted due to COVID-19, we have decided to distribute smartphones to 8 lakh students of Classes IX and X in Govt schools. This will ensure that they have access to online education.” In her budget speech on 16 July, State Finance Minister Ajanta Neog stated that the government will now provide mobile phones to students of Class IX and X in the state. For this, sufficient fund has been sanctioned in the budget for the Financial Year 2021-22. 

Expressing his views on Wednesday, Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, while addressing journalists said, “We are waiting for the daily Covid cases to come down to 500. At present, the number of daily cases stands around 750. But even if the daily positive cases are 700, then also we have thought of reopening educational institutions for post graduation final year, TDC final year, HS final year and Class X from 1 September, 2021. We shall try to start classes only for these 4 classes.”

CM Sarma further urged upon the parents of those students whose wards are above 18 years to get themselves vaccinated with atleast one dose of Covid vaccine. For the students, Dr Sarma said, “Without getting vaccinated, students won’t be allowed to stay in the hostels.” He also asked the teachers to get themselves vaccinated and be prepared to take classes from 1 September.