Reacting to the directive of the Deputy Commissioner Dimapur for closure of all schools within Dimapur district in view of widespread cases of eye flu (conjunctivitis), All Nagaland Private Schools’ Association (ANPSA) Central has appealed to DC Dimapur to revoke the order since “schools in Dimapur are not having any unmanageable outbreak of eye flu (conjunctivitis).”
In an appeal to DC Dimapur, ANPSA president Nini Sekhose and general secretary P.J. Nathan, joint secretary Abalie Medoze and ex-officio advisor Bithungo Kikon acknowledged prevalence of eye flu in the state but pointed out that even if few students were infected, yet they recovered fast and there has been no significant number of absentees. ANPSA also pointed out that schools were able to carry on physical classes and taking care to adhere to the recommendation of the Health department to prevent spread of the flu.
The signatories further stated that, as per the verbal direction from the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) chairman, the ANPSA Central had conducted a survey of schools during which it was observed that many schools reported eye flu cases but that it was not alarming.
“Only a few students, about two or three, were absent daily due to this. There was no problem in continuing physical classes due to this disease. Some schools reported nil prevalence,” said ANPSA.
ANPSA also informed that all NBSE schools were now in the process of conducting mid-term exams for Class 12, while some schools were also conducting exams for lower classes. In this regard, ANPSA said it would be difficult for the schools in Dimapur to close down for a week, since they would not be able to complete the exams in the given time frame, thereby affecting the completion of syllabus.
While mentioning that 99% of schools in the state are affiliated with NBSE, including all Catholic run- schools, ANPSA said that Catholic schools have Common Question Papers for their schools and would not be possible for them to bring out another Common Question Papers for Dimapur district alone, since exams were slated to begin by August 21, 2023.
In view of the above, ANPSA has requested the DC Dimapur to allow schools to remain open voluntarily so that the exams can go on un-interrupted.
