GURUGRAM: While the Haryana government has allowed schools to call students of classes 6 to 8 to campuses, private schools in the city have decided to resume physical sessions only in the next academic year.
On Monday, state-run schools reopened for these classes and started regular three-and-a-half-hour sessions in classrooms.
Meanwhile, a majority of private schools have decided to avoid the disruption of online classes. Some of the leading private schools have decided to conduct only remedial or doubt-clearing sessions for the students.
Many schools said the course for this year is nearly complete and final exams are scheduled for this month. They argued that any disruption in the mode of teaching and examinations previously decided would adversely affect the students.
DAV Public School in Sector 14 is planning to conduct online examinations for students, barring those in Class 10 and 12. “We are prepared to resume physical classes. We are already seeing a great response from the students of classes 9 to 12. But, for students in classes 6 to 8, we’ll not hold regular classes as exams are around the corner,” said principal Aparna Erry.
Suncity School in Sector 54 is also going ahead with the wait-and-watch policy. Although the school asserted that they are fully geared up, it wants to assess the situation. For the students studying in the national board, the school plans to resume regular physical classroom sessions from next session. The school will, however, invite students for remedial, consultation, project work, and practical sessions.
“For national board students, it doesn’t make sense to resume classes now as the course is complete and they have exams this month. It will not be in their interest to disturb a momentum. They are already comfortable with the online education regime. Our students in international board have exams starting in May so we are planning on how we can resume classes for them,” said Suncity School director Rupa Chakravarty.
The schools have also cited parents’ apprehension over the resumption of physical classes as another deterrent. “Parents aren’t willing to send students in classes 6 to 8 back to the school in this session. They want the Covid situation to stabilise,” said Salwan Public School principal Rashmi Malik.
Meanwhile, the government schools have claimed that attendance on the first day was very encouraging. “We saw at least 50% attendance. And the number is only going to increase. To ensure physical distancing, we are planning to hold two shifts — from 10am and from 1pm,” said Jacobpura government school principal Sunil Kumar.