Neither govt nor Dept of Edu is rushing to open schools: Suresh Kumar

Bengaluru: Against the backdrop of public fear over rising coronavirus cases, Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar on Friday reaffirmed that there was no hurry to reopen schools and colleges in the state.

Insisting that Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa too had made it clear there is no rush to start schools and colleges, Kumar said the government”s next move will be taken keeping in view the interest of the children and after consulting all.

“Neither our government nor the Department of Education is rushing to open schools under any circumstances.The health and safety of our children is very important to us,” Kumar said in a Facebook post.

His comment came in the wake of two former chief ministers Siddaramaiah and HD Kumaraswamy asking the government not to open the schools in view of surging coronavirus cases.

The Centre in its latest ‘Unlock’ directive has permitted the state government to decide on opening schools and colleges from October 15, which has caused anxiety among parents as well as opposition leaders.

Kumar had earlier said the government was not in a hurry to open schools but that did not allay public fear, compelling him to issue a statement afresh.

He said many ministers and lawmakers, including health minister B Sriramulu, medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar and Siddaramaiah, had expressed their views when he had sought their opinion on reopening schools about nine days ago.

The minister termed the debate around the issue as unfortunate when he had only sought public opinion which was projected as the government”s desire to open the schools.

“This debate is recurring time and again and I am giving explanation again and again,” Kumar said.