Nagpur: Surpassing expectations of even education officials, almost 32% of Std V-VIII students in the state were back on the campus after schools reopened on Wednesday. The 12.5 lakh middle school students, who trotted back to school on day one, were way higher than the 3 lakh students from Std IX-XII who resumed school in November last year.
Gadchiroli district led the state in attendance figures with 65.53% middle school students back in classrooms. The lowest attendance was at 6% in Hingoli. In Nagpur, city schools are yet to reopen and hence, the attendance percentage of 9% does not give the complete picture.
A senior education official told TOI that school reopening has ‘busted myths’. “Last year when he announced the reopening there was a big hue and cry from many parents and even some academics. On social media, people were saying that their children’s lives are being risked, even though we had said that attendance is not mandatory,” said the official.
“Not only have schools been operating safely since November, the attendance numbers too have increased drastically,” said the official.
Around 22 lakh students from Std IX-XII are attending schools/junior colleges in physical mode. Now with the 12.5 lakh middle school kids joining them, the education department is no doubt on a high.
The same education official, who did not wish to be named, said, “And these statistics do not include many schools from high density areas like Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur. In some places, every school is closed while in some of these districts, schools within city limits are closed. Once schools reopen here, then even 20%-30% of their student population coming back to the campus will propel attendance figures sharply.”
On Friday, rumours of the state government deciding on a date for reopening Std I-IV were doing the rounds on social media. Many ‘click bait’ sites went into hyperactive mode, but TOI confirmed from school education minister Varsha Gaikwad’s office that no date has been fixed yet.
In Nagpur city, schools may reopen from February 8 if the civic body does not extend the closure further.
Zafar Khan, president of School Headmasters’ Charitable Association, said that as long as safety precautions are being taken, there is no need to worry. “I believe there is already enough awareness about the pandemic and everybody is taking care. All we need to do is just keep following the health guidelines and then, there will be no reason to be scared,” said Khan.
STATE STATISTICS
(Data for Std V-VIII. Data from 9 districts not available/updated. Source: Education department)
Students enrolled: 38,85,106
Students present: 12,47,745
Total schools: 40,812
Schools reopened: 34,996
Covid positive teachers: 552
Covid positive non-teaching staff: 162