GURUGRAM: The government schools, which opened their gates on Monday for Class 1 and 2 students, recorded a low turnout. The city witnessed only 15%-20% of the students turning up at the schools.
On the other hand, private schools stayed shut for the students in the primary section and will continue for this academic session.
Many said the sudden announcement by the state government gave teachers and parents very little time to prepare and make arrangements.
At Shivaji Nagar primary school, seven students of class 1 and around 15 from class 2 turned up. Likewise, at Om Nagar primary school, around seven of the 19 students in class 1 and five of the 28 in class 2 turned up for the classes.
As the students stepped into the classrooms for the first time since last March, teachers said they did not hold any academic sessions but only conducted game-oriented activities. They said the students shared their lockdown experiences with them. A few of them had new spectacles on their noses, while many had grown taller. The teachers claimed that they were happy to see the young faces back in school and spent three hours talking about the year gone by. But, ensuring that the little ones follow Covid norms was a challenge, they said. A government school teacher said: “We were happy to see these kids. We didn’t take any classes today and just had hearty talks with them. We played games and sang songs. The school livened up with their presence. But we had a tough time keeping an eye on them so they don’t take off their masks or start coming too close to their friends. It will take time to discipline them.”
Meanwhile, the private schools did not call the students for physical classroom sessions. With CBSE deciding to start a new session from April 1, a majority of the private schools are beginning with the final exams from the first week of March.
A few schools, however, have decided to call students in small batches. “The session is over and it doesn’t make sense to call them now. We will call students in batches of five to seven so they can meet teachers and friends but we need parents’ consent,” said Suncity School director Rupa Chakravarty.