On the first day of the re-opening of schools for nursery to Class VIII in Delhi, student turnout was marginal. This is primarily because schools, teachers, parents and students want to wait for Diwali holidays to get over.
“Though school are re-opened from Monday, I will assess the situation post-Diwali and only if Covid-19 cases are in control wil attend the school,” said Sadhna Ramuka, a Class VIII student.
Like Sadhna, several other students want to wait for some time before attending the schools physically. Recently, East Delhi Public School asked parents of class VI to VIII to give feedback on sending their children to schools, only 30 per cent were willing to send kids.
“While the schools must open as soon as possible, given the fact that the students need a nurturing classroom environment to learn and grow physically and mentally. That being said, however, I think the schools need a few more days to wait for Diwali to get over,” said Alka Kapur, Principal, Modern Public School in Shalimar Bagh.
Most of the Delhi schools are conducting exams for higher classes. The average attendance was 5-10 per cent or less.
“School reopened today for the students of Class VI to VIII but the attendance was very low as they are busy conducting pre-board exams for class X and XII. While, in Municipal Corporation of Delhi schools students have not been called so far and most of their teachers are still on Covid duty,” said Ashok Agarwal, National President, All India Parents Association.
“Blended mode should be stopped immediately as students especially in government schools have suffered a learning loss in the last 2 years. Schools should be re-opened with 100 per cent capacity by taking all the necessary precautions. As far as the parental approval is concerned it has no legal value,” added Agarwal.