Parents unwilling to send children to schools till October: Chandigarh education dept

The MHRD had sought a reply from education secretaries of all states and UTs regarding the likely period between August and October when parents will be most comfortable with reopening of schools

: Most parents are unwilling to send their wards to schools even in September and October as per feedback collected by Chandigarh education department till now regarding reopening of schools.

HT Image

The ministry of human resource development (MHRD) had sought a reply from education secretaries of all states and union territories regarding the likely period between August and October when parents will be most comfortable with reopening of schools. The expectations of parents from schools and other feedback were also asked. Schools have sent feedback forms to parents online through Google forms seeking their response.

The department is still in the process of conducting the survey, however, according to district education officer (DEO) Harbir Singh Anand, most parents aren’t willing to send their wards to school even in September and October.

“In most responses we have received, parents say they are unwilling to send their children to schools till October if the Covid situation isn’t brought under control. Even parents with children studying in board classes aren’t in favour of reopening schools,” the DEO said.

However, Anand added that since results hadn’t been compiled properly, it wasn’t possible to quantify it as of now.

Earlier, on July 20, the education department had sent a reply that parents of board classes will be willing to send their children to schools from August 15 onwards. However, the feedback wasn’t collected directly from the parents, but, from principals.

As per the guidelines of Unlock 3.0, schools will remain closed in August. Officials of the education department confirmed that if the situation remains the same in the city, it is unlikely that schools will reopen in September as well.

The department had set the last date for collecting these responses by Thursday. However, following the Unlock 3.0 announcement, the deadline has been extended.

Director of school education (DSE), Rubinderjit Singh Brar, said, that the department will have an additional month now before new orders regarding reopening of schools are issued so the department will seek more responses before sending a final response to the ministry.