Not many students of Classes IX and X are attending schools for clarifying their doubts due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation. In the first week, the schools saw poor attendance in the district. With the government encouraging online mode of classes, parents are reluctant to send their children to schools.
They are favouring online classes as of now. Parents say that schools should not be reopened on November 2 as announced by the State government and the date should be postponed by a month at least.
Parents cite transportation issues, fear of children gathering in groups and the spread of the coronavirus, as some of the reasons.
“The COVID-19 cases have slightly come down in the district, but they have not yet come under control. So it is better to continue with the online classes for two more months. It may not be possible for the children to stay all the time with masks and not forming groups to discuss something,” said N. Ramesh, a parent from the city.
K. Harika, a Class X student from the city, said that she had gone to the school on second and third day and got her doubts clarified. “Transportation is the issue and my parents do not allow me to board RTC buses or auto-rickshaws,” she said. “The classroom was completely sanitised. Physical distancing was maintained with one person allowed to sit in a bench,” she said.
Harika’s mother Sailaja said that the school authorities have not forced them to send her daughter. Some schools have collected opinions from parents whether to hold classes for doubts.
“I gave my nod to send my son studying Class X to school. It needs special attention to get doubts cleared and it is not possible online. We are taking all precautions. However, out of around 200 parents, only 33 are favourable to send their children to school. So the idea of conducting classes for doubts’ clarification is dropped as of now,” said Ravi Kumar, a parent from Seethammadhara.
Meanwhile, several child activists accuse schools of not following safety norms on the campus properly.
“We had conducted random checks in some schools in the city and found that washrooms are not properly maintained. Moreover some schools are forcing students to stay from 10 a.m. to 4.45 p.m. Are the schools unaware that government had given permission only to clarify doubts?,” said Child Rights Protection Forum (CRPF) president Gondu Sitaram.
The Central government in its Unlock 5.0 directives has also left it to the States to reopen schools in a graded manner after October 15, based on the prevailing situation.
A couple of days ago, the State government announced that it is planning to start schools from November 2.
A senior official from the Education Department said that reopening of schools depends on the COVID-19 situation in the State. However, the government would release proper standard operating procedure (SOP) before starting classes, he said.