Schools shut down due to rise in conjunctivitis cases in Nagaland

 KOHIMA: With the surge of conjunctivitis/eye flu amongst the school-going children in the state, schools in four districts, namely Mon Dimapur, Niuland, and Chumoukedima, have been shut down until August 26. Principal Director School Education, Nagaland, Thavaseelan K, IAS, said on Tuesday that with the recent outbreak of conjunctivitis cases among school-going children, four districts have shut down, stating that it is a call from the District Administration, the School Education Department, and the Health and Family Welfare Department, Nagaland.

"Our priority will always be the safety of the students," he said, stating that there have been instances and situations where the ongoing examinations have had to be postponed in the event the schools are shut down.

He said that "they have informed the Deputy Commissioners of the districts concerned that if the situation arises to take the call for closing down the schools based on how severe the outbreak is, the department will stand in full support of the decisions, maintaining that it is better to break the chain earlier and ensure that the kids are safe." That's the reason why the department has closed down the schools, he said, adding that they will have to continuously monitor the situation, and the next course of action will be determined by how the situation evolves.

The principal director also informed that apart from the four districts, no other districts have gone ahead and closed down schools; however, if the situation worsens, the schools will be closed down. He added that "We don't want a situation where this spreads out of control and then we try to control it; we would rather be cautious right now than try to tackle the situation once it goes out of our hands."

The schools in the four districts have been requested to opt for alternate measures like online classes for the students during the period. The Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE), in its circular on Monday, ordered the closure of schools from August 21st until August 26th as precautionary measures to contain or break the chain of transmission of conjunctivitis or eye flu. (ANI)

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