Pune: Attendance improves in schools as more students join classes

PUNE: The enthusiasm on the second day of schools’ reopening was constant as students turned out in good numbers to attend offline classes on Tuesday.
The rural schools continued to dominate with maximum attendance while in urban areas it was a slow start.More government schools reopened than private institutions on Monday.
Vikas Garad, an official in the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT), said that the second day was nearly similar to the first day with the rural schools showing maximum attendance as compared to urban areas.
“The reopening of schools is encouraged and not compulsory so the urban schools are taking it in their stride. Many have reopened on Monday in cities like Pune and Mumbai, but it will take some more time for them to match the rural school attendance,” he added.
On the second day too, the mood was enthusiastic and the teachers kept it easy with not much stress on academics, but mainly having interactive sessions.
Prakash Mete, a teacher at the civic school in Chandannagar, said, “We had about 40% attendance in our school today. The students are enjoying coming to back to school and we are ensuring that they follow all the precautions and at the same time be safe in school. As per the government plan, we will ensure that offline classes do not stop.”
Samiksha Jadhav, a private school student, missed school on Monday because she had no consent from her parents.
She said, “On Monday, everywhere there was only talk of school reopening. It was on the social media groups and society also. I felt bad that I had missed the first day. I am in Std IX and I insisted and convinced my parents to send me to school and promised to follow all safety norms. So I was able to make it on Tuesday and was extremely happy.”