Nagaland student bodies against ‘forced vaccination’

Principal Director of School Education says no one can force anyone to take vaccine

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Jan. 19 (EMN): The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) on Wednesday stated that it had received complaints about educational institutions making Covid-19 vaccination compulsory for students to attend classes or appear in examinations and appealed to the authorities to refrain from such “dictatorial practices”.

While maintaining that the federation is not against Covid-19 vaccination, it said vaccine “should be taken with the free will and clear conscience of the receiver and not forced upon”, adding that compulsory vaccination has caused great mental and emotional stress to young students.

Meanwhile, the NSF stated that vaccine hesitancy should be done away with to defeat the deadly Covid-19, after “studying the health implications based on scientific facts and not just relying on hearsay or fake social media updates”.

It also appealed to the student community to exercise prudence and ensure that all the Covid-19 SOPs issued by the appropriate authority are strictly followed.

The Dimapur Naga Students’ Union (DNSU) also expressed concern over complaints that some educational institutions were denying entry of unvaccinated students. Citing the Supreme Court’s directive, it said individuals including students should not be forced to take vaccination.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, the student body said that vaccination certificate holds no value for entry into the state as the government’s latest SOP had asked all in-bound travellers, irrespective of their vaccination status, to produce a RT-PCR negative report on arrival. It went on to ask why ‘vaccination certificate is so necessary for students’.

The student union appealed to the government to come up with a better strategy to cope with the situation, saying that its directive will affect students’ career. It also requested educational institutions to resolve the issue with the concern authority and not risk students’ career.

Students shouldn’t be forced to take vaccine — Shanavas

Meanwhile, Principal Director of School Education, Shanavas C told Eastern Mirror that students should not be forced to take vaccine, but in the present situation, only those who have taken at least one dose would be allowed to attend offline classes.

He maintained that no one can force anyone to take vaccine but “the condition is that if they (students) have not taken vaccines, they cannot come for offline class for now till the situation gets better” as per the government order.

In its revised SOP issued earlier this month amid rise in Covid cases sparked by the emergence of Omicron variant, the state’s Home department had suspended physical classes for up to Class 8 till January 31. However, students studying in Class 9 and above, who have completed 15 years of age and taken at least first dose Covid vaccine, have been allowed to take admission, or attend offline classes.

Shavanas said that the Education department only issued a directive to all the schools to comply with the Home department’s notification.

Regarding apprehensions over the upcoming examinations expected to be held in February and March, he assured that they will not deny any student the opportunity to write exams, ‘but they (Education department) will come up with a solution by that time’.