Schools Are Ready, Parents Not So Much

REOPENING: With Covid Still Around, Principals Expect Attendance To Stay Low To Begin With

- Shradha Chettri

New Delhi: Resumption of classes shouldn’t be a problem because schools plan to prevent crowding of students, said institution heads on Friday after the announcement that education institutions could reopen from September. Parents, however, weren’t too sure about there being no problems, while universities felt they needed to consult the stakeholders about a return to campus after the lengthy Covid-forced break.

With parental consent a must, many schools aren’t certain about resuming from September 1. Suruchi Gandhi, principal, Bal Bharti School, Dwarka, said, “Less than half of the students have been attending the practical classes. So, we will have to see how many parents give their consent for their children returning to school. We could call different classes on different days and continue that rotation.”

Gandhi, however, isn’t positive about asking the junior students back to classes yet. The expert committee said on Friday that children in classes VI to VIII could be called from September 8. A K Jha, principal, Government Co-ed Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Sector 8, Rohini, too had similar expectations. “From experience I can say that in the initial days, few children will come. But when they see others going for classes, many will rejoin, particularly those appearing later for board exams,” said Jha.