After over 34 students contract Covid-19 in Karnataka, govt to evaluate safety of Vidyagama scheme

A day after reports of over 30 children in Belgavi district testing positive for Covid-19 emerged, the state primary education minister S Suresh Kumar said that the department will get health reports of children associated with Vidyagama scheme across the state.

34 students attending classes under the Vidyagama programme in Belagavi and Kalaburagi tested positive for the virus. Vidyagama is a scheme launched by the Education Department to reach out to government school children during the pandemic.

In a communique, minister S Suresh Kumar said, "We will get reports from across the state to know whether the children were tested positive because of the teachers."

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"Ultimately the health and safety of our children and teachers is important and no programme is more important than the health of children and teachers. We will take decision further about Vidyagama based on the report from each district," he stated.

The minister explained that as many as 47 lakh children are benefitted from the Vidyagama scheme and so far there is no confirmation about children being infected through the scheme.

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"Vidyagama is a scientifically designed programme for the benefit of socially weaker sections to continue learning and it has turned as model for the country. There should not be any doubt about the safety measures followed in the implementation of the programme," he mentioned.

However, the minister said that the department will seek to know the cause of infections.