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New Delhi: For the first time in 17 months, students dressed in gleaming faces and iron uniforms arrived at Jangpura Co-Ed Secondary School in the national capital at 8 am on Wednesday.
After four hours of offline studies, the students walked out with the same smile. Many of his classmates did not come due to heavy rains in Delhi on Wednesday as well as parents’ concern about Covid, but they were happy to be back.
“Today our teacher asked us to write an essay on the problems faced during the lockdown. He also explained our worksheet to us and cleared our doubts. I am very glad that schools have reopened. It was very troublesome to study online on a shared phone,” said Khushnuma Apsari, a class 10 student.
“After seeing our friends and teachers on the phone for so many months, we are happy to finally meet them,” he said.
Schools, colleges and coaching centers for classes 9 to 12 reopened in the national capital in a phased manner on Wednesday, as Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia said. announced Last week. Schools reopened after 17 months of closure in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sushani Parveen, whose 16-year-old daughter attended school, said, “We have sent our children following all the COVID protocols, we know they are safe in schools. Other parents may feel apprehensive but I believe he is safer in school than in markets and other public places.
The mother-in-law said, “Children are getting bored at home and supporting their online education is expensive. It is better if they come here and study.”
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poor attendance
However, despite the enthusiasm for reopening schools in Delhi, only eight students turned up at the Jangpura school.
“Most of the children did not come due to heavy rains and waterlogging. We have divided our 150 children into batches of 15 per class. Of those who came, the parents sat with their children and took them home after the stipulated 4 hours,” said school principal Harish Chandra.
“We spoke to all parents before re-opening the school and found that most parents want to wait for 10-15 days to ‘observe trends’ before sending their children to school. Very few people readily agreed to send their children,” he said.
However, the principal said, based on the survey of parents of the school, in the best case only 40 per cent of the total number would be able to attend the school.
In the Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya of Subhash Nagar, about two-three children came from each class. School principal Sant Ram said the reluctance to send the children to school is surprising.
“We have about 10 students who have come forward. We had set up a quarantine room and prepared the school as per (DDMA) guidelines,” he told ThePrint.
“It is possible that due to rain less students come, we are hoping that we will see better numbers in a week’s time. However, our on-premises vaccination center did not see any reduction in the number of people despite the rains.
According to SOP issued Only 50 per cent of the classroom seating capacity can be occupied by students to ensure social distancing, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) said on Monday.
The guidelines also said that lunch hours should be reduced and students in open spaces should be allowed to remove their masks freely while having meals. He further suggested that the time-table should be varied to avoid overcrowding in the campus.
In Shalimar Bagh’s Modern Public School, 38 out of 385 children came. Principal Alka Kapoor said that the school has divided the students according to their roll numbers on the basis of odd-even.
“Till today about 10 per cent of the number of students came in even numbers. We are following all necessary COVID protocols and ensuring that all students have access to the blended model of learning that we have created,” she said.
Read also: Ensure all teachers get at least one dose of vaccine by September, Modi govt tells states, UTs
Issues hindering class attendance
A parent, who did not wish to be named, said it was finding it difficult to send the children to school due to rain and lack of vehicles.
“Leaving and raising children on their own is problematic for working parents as so many offices have opened up. Public transport does not seem to be a safe option right now and not all parents are okay with car pooling,” she said.
“Even if the school provides buses, it seems like a risky move at this point of time, let’s add to it during the rainy season. Children can fall prey to all kinds of diseases,” she said.
(Edited by Amit Upadhyay)
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