Skip to main content

School closures: Ignorant, unscientific govt machinery 'playing' with children's future

By Dr Maya Valecha*

If you want to stop the future of our children being ruined, it is time to wake up and stir the ignorant, unscientific (government) machinery.
It has been proved by many studies and by practical experience in some countries where schools, even day-care centres for kids were not closed and children were not forced masks or distancing and still nothing happened to them.
In the first week of May the results of an Australian study showed that children get very mild Corona if at all they get and they don't even spread. And after coming from school, they don't affect the elders at home. 
The schools started in Denmark in the first week of September without mask for teachers or children and without distancing. Nothing happened to anybody there. 
A report from Maharashtra in August also said that children below 20 years don't get severe Corona, a very low death rate, and that too in the children having diabetes, heart disease or such major underlying illness.
As such it's true for all others that masks don't make any difference on the coronavirus spread but a study in Germany has found that children have negative psychological effects by wearing mask.
On March 9 this year the minister for children in UK said that children are not forced to wear mask or follow distancing in the school.
On January 28, 2021, a study in USA has again proved that Corona becomes serious only in the children having diabetes heart disease or any such other disease.
A report from Mayo clinic in USA also says the same thing. 
The example of Sweden is very important. They never closed the schools for children, never had masks and distancing. Nothing happened, anything to anybody there. 
"Economist"articles between April and November showed that, when they become adult, their earning capacity will be reduced, especially they will be 30 years of age if they lose so much of school time. (10) And because children felt lonely in the absence of schools, psychological illnesses and even suicide was seen.
Even today we are getting reports from Surat, Vadodara and maybe at many places that they are testing thousands of students without any symptoms, and even if one child has positive report, the whole school is closed. Officials do it without having been instructed on this. So total chaos is going on.
UNICEF has said that closing schools during pandemic was the biggest mistake. There is no relationship between pandemic and schools functioning. 
Experts have confirmed that letting children catch Covid may be safer than giving them vaccine. Allowing children to catch Covid may be better than exposing them to the "risk" of vaccines, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has said
Prof Robert Dingwall said children may be “better protected by natural immunity generated through infection than by asking them to take the ‘possible’ risk of a vaccine”. 
We are messing up with our children's future. Online education is offered 2 to 3 years old children! This is not sensible. One should not just keep mum.
It is necessary for sensible people to collect together and give memorandum to the government, the collector collectors and other responsible officials and ask them to start schools regularly, looking at all the scientific evidences. Children don't need mask, they don't need distancing. It is our responsibility to see that their present and future are not spoiled.
---
*Senior doctor and activist based in Surat

Comments

TRENDING

Why Venezuela govt granting amnesty to political prisoners isn't a sign of weakness

By Guillermo Barreto   On 20 May 2017, during a violent protest planned by sectors of the Venezuelan opposition, 21-year-old Orlando Figuera was attacked by a mob that accused him of being a Chavista. After being stabbed, he was doused with gasoline and set on fire in front of everyone present. Young Orlando was admitted to a hospital with multiple wounds and burns covering 80 percent of his body and died 15 days later, on 4 June.

Pace bowlers who transcended pace bowling prowess to heights unscaled

By Harsh Thakor*   This is my selection and ranking of the most complete and versatile fast bowlers of all time. They are not rated on the basis of statistics or sheer speed, but on all-round pace-bowling skill. I have given preference to technical mastery over raw talent, and versatility over raw pace.

Walk for peace: Buddhist monks and America’s search for healing

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The #BuddhistMonks in the United States have completed their #WalkForPeace after covering nearly 3,700 kilometers in an arduous journey. They reached Washington, DC yesterday. The journey began at the Huong Đạo Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth, Texas, on October 26, 2025, and concluded in Washington, DC after a 108-day walk. The monks, mainly from Vietnam and Thailand, undertook this journey for peace and mindfulness. Their number ranged between 19 and 24. Led by Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara (also known as Sư Tuệ Nhân), a Vietnamese-born monk based in the United States, this “Walk for Peace” reflected deeply on the crisis within American society and the search for inner strength among its people.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

A. R. Rahman's ‘Yethu’ goes viral, celebrating Tamil music on the world stage

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  Good news for Tamil music lovers—the Mozart of Madras is back in the Tamil music industry with his song “Yethu” from the film “Moonwalk.” The track has climbed international charts, once again placing A. R. Rahman on the global stage.

Four women lead the way among Tamil Nadu’s Muslim change-makers

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  A report published by Awaz–The Voice (ATV), a news platform, highlights 10 Muslim change-makers in Tamil Nadu, among whom four are women. These individuals are driving social change through education, the arts, conservation, and activism. Representing diverse fields ranging from environmental protection and literature to political engagement and education, they are working to improve society across the state.

Bangladesh goes to polls as press freedom concerns surface

By Nava Thakuria*  As Bangladesh heads for its 13th Parliamentary election and a referendum on the July National Charter simultaneously on Thursday (12 February 2026), interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus has urged all participating candidates to rise above personal and party interests and prioritize the greater interests of the Muslim-majority nation, regardless of the poll outcomes. 

Why Russian oil has emerged as the flashpoint in India–US trade talks

By N.S. Venkataraman*  In recent years, India has entered into trade agreements with several countries, the latest being agreements with the European Union and the United States. While the India–EU trade agreement has been widely viewed in India as mutually beneficial and balanced, the trade agreement with the United States has generated comparatively greater debate and scrutiny.

Trade pacts with EU, US raise alarms over farmers, MSMEs and policy space

By A Representative   A broad coalition of farmers’ organisations, trade unions, traders, public health advocates and environmental groups has raised serious concerns over India’s recently concluded trade agreements with the European Union and the United States, warning that the deals could have far-reaching implications for livelihoods, policy autonomy and the country’s long-term development trajectory. In a public statement issued, the Forum for Trade Justice described the two agreements as marking a “tectonic shift” in India’s trade policy and cautioned that the projected gains in exports may come at a significant social and economic cost.