The Jharkhand education department has started to think about reopening schools and educational institutions from next month with Covid-19 cases showing a definite downward trend, and deliberations for this is already under way, government sources indicated on Friday.

On Saturday, state education minister Jagarnnath Mahto is expected to hold separate meetings with officials, representatives of parents' organisations and other stakeholders to arrive at a consensus in the wake of demands from various quarters to reopen schools and colleges.

In a letter to chief minister Hemant Soren on Thursday night, economist and social activist Jean Dreze criticised the state government’s extended closure of schools for close to two years now, calling it "catastrophic" for elementary education. Dreze described the schooling crisis as a far more serious consequence of the pandemic then even the economic and health crisis facing the country.

“When the pandemic subsides, the economy is likely to pick up and adults will return relatively soon to their normal lives. But children may pay the price for their entire life. Jharkhand has the world record of longest continuous closure of primary schools – almost two years. A small minority of privileged children have been able to continue studying online during this period, but online education does not work for poor children. Most of them have been virtually abandoned by the schooling system for two years. This prolonged exclusion from the schooling system has led to a revival of mass illiteracy among children,” he said.

When the schools finally reopened, he added, many children might not be able to recover their ability to read and write, and eventually become "de facto drop-outs".

The World Bank had also recently criticized closure of schools in the country, stating that there was no evidence to prove that schools led to a spike in Covid-19 cases.

In Jharkhand, Private Schools and Welfare Association (PSWA) have for the last couple of months meeting various government authorities to press for reopening schools. On Friday morning, a delegation met with education minister Mahto and finance minister Rameshwar Oraon to iterate its demand.

After the meeting, state president of the outfit Alok Dubey said, “Tomorrow morning, the education minister has called a meeting on the issue of school reopening. He has asked us to also remain present at the meeting. The minister is of the view that it’s time for schools to be reopened, and we are hoping that the government will take a decision in this regard in the next few days.”

A close of aide of education minister Mahto conceded that the deliberations for school reopening had begun. “With many states already announcing such a move, we will also do the same since Covid cases are coming down in the state. Only the modus operandi of reopening is being deliberated upon,” he said.

After the phase-out of the second wave in late 2021, the state government allowed reopening of schools from Class 6 and above. Higher education centres were also allowed to function in both online and offline mode. But from the beginning of this month, all educational institutes were shut again due to the outbreak of the third or Omicron wave. The current phase of restrictions is due to expire on January 31.