bengaluru while parental concerns continue over the proposal to reopen schools for oncampus classes in the face of an anticipated third wave of covid19 infections dr preeti m galagali executive board member indian academy of pediatricskarnataka says schools should ideally reopen insisting nutrition and psychological health of children are factors that must be considered toocancelling class 10 and 12 cbse exams were fine as vaccine supply was an issue though the peak of infections was beginning to taper its not the same now we will face wave after wave and we have to live with covid said dr galagali whose suggestions appear frequently in the interim report of the highlevel committee led by dr devi shetty for prevention and management of covid wave3excerpts from an interviewthe proposal to reopen schools is unacceptable to most parents in urban areas due to thirdwave concernsthis is not the last wave of covid we must learn to live with the virus its fine for those who have internet access in urban areas but what about rural children its not only about education but nutrition as well their midday meals are related to schooling we need to look at the bigger picture there is a lot of learning that takes place in corridors of schools like social interaction now many parents are back at work and children are getting suffocated due to social isolation this will lead to a huge pandemic of mental health issues we are already seeing such cases in the past year i have counselled 130 parents and children through telecounselling the most common complaint from parents is that children are not studying online not devoting enough time to studies and are getting addicted to gadgets they are missing school and friends the loss of play and uncertainty of school reopening is pushing them into turmoilthe proposal of rs 2 lakh health insurance for every child attending school has not been well receivedmaybe it should have been worded differently without using the term insurance it only means that in case something happens to a child the government will assist financially about 10 of infected children may need hospitalisation and 1 icu care we cant put a price on anybodys life but stakeholders must think of reopening schools in a guarded manner we dont know what will happen later but we can try now since infectivity is lowdo you have any modifications to be adopted in schools if they reopenwe have to make a beginning sometime schools can safely reopen when the positivity rate is below 5 there has been no surge in cases over the past two weeks studies have shown children are not a source of viral infection the transmission is largely from adults which could be school staff if prevention measures are followed and all staff is vaccinated schools can reopen staggered timings can be adopted schools can restrict contact sports like football but let children play badminton racket sport or catch and throw balls at a longer distance the