After almost a period of 10 to 11 months, primary classes started in schools following the State government’s instructions from Monday. While some schools received half the number of students, other schools in a few areas registered 90% attendance on the first two days. Optimistic about increase in attendance in the coming days, the school managements say that they have been strictly adhering to COVID-19 protocol.
Students were excited about the new benches, new wall paintings, new lockers arranged on the school premises as part of ongoing Nadu-Nedu works. It was made mandatory for the children to wear mask without fail all the time. While some schools provided hand sanitiser to students while coming to classrooms, some other did not. School managements made one or two children to sit on one bench. Midday meals were provided in all the government schools.
“Our school has received 95% attendance on the first day. Students were very much excited meeting their friends and viewing renovated classrooms with new benches. We also explained them about dos and don’ts in this COVID-19 situation,” said headmaster, of GVMC Primary School, Peda Jalaripeta, N. Sambasiva Rao. He said that students were allowed only if they bring the signed declaration from their parents, stating that they were willing to send their children to school.
According to the government instructions, Classes I, III and V were held on Monday, while Classes II and IV were held on Tuesday. School managements made sure that classes with huge strength were divided into sections to ensure two-in a bench seating format.
Syllabus woes
Some of the teachers and even parents complained about the syllabus given for the primary school students. They expressed that the old syllabus should have been continued for this year, rather than introducing the new syllabus.
One of the teachers from a government school said that though the syllabus was reduced, it would be tough for the teachers to complete on fast-track mode. Moreover, students cannot grasp the new syllabus so fast, she said.
“In case of private schools, students had attended online classes, while students of government schools were not able to attend due to lack of required gadgets. Even the classes which were organised with the help of Doordarshan were not attended by most of the students. We were shocked to see many children even forgetting the daily morning prayer. It would have been better if the teachers were consulted before introducing the new syllabus,” said a primary school teacher from the city.
A few teachers said that they have very less time to complete syllabus. “We may be asked to perform election duty and then we have to conduct the Class X examination and valuations. These works will reduce our teaching time,” a teacher said.
Some school managements expressed concern over lack of security personnel with the presence of new equipment in the campus. They appealed to the officials concerned to arrange a guard and CCTV cameras. Meanwhile, staff from some schools pointed out the lack of sanitary staff to clean classrooms and toilets.