Parents up in arms against reopening of schools in Chandigarh

A petition started by an anonymous parents’ association on Change.org has gathered over 4 lakh signatories within 24 hours against the reopening of schools

Many parents are strongly opposing the phase-wise reopening of schools as suggested by the guidelines for Unlock 1.0.

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They have left no stone unturned to make their voices heard and said they won’t send their children to school unless it’s safe.

In fact, social media is filled with posts opposing reopening of schools and the Chandigarh Parents’ Association has taken a strict stand against it.

Nitin Goyal, president of Chandigarh Parents Association said, “Social media is flooded with requests to not reopen schools. So many parents are calling and showing their concern regarding this daily.”

A petition started by an anonymous parents’ association on Change.org claims to have gathered over 4 lakh signatories within 24 hours against the reopening.

The petition addressed to Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, human resource and development minister, states, “Reopening schools in July will be the worst decision by the government. The current academic session should continue online.”

A Tik-Tok video is also doing the rounds on social media in which parents appealed that Parliament should open before schools as their “Kids are not test samples”.

Suresh Bhura, a parent said, “Currently, kids are at home and that is definitely an academic loss. However, I am against the reopening of schools amid surging cases of Covid-19. Crowded classrooms and lack of basic hygiene is the main concern.”

Harvinder Singh, another parent said, “Government will do a trial-run on higher secondary classes only, whereas everything (otherwise) will be up to ‘god’.” Yuvraj Singh shared similar views and said it seems like children are being used as test samples.

“Despite all norms pertaining to social distancing and sanitisation, controlling and managing children in schools is a problem. The schools needs detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs),” another parent, Ashwinder Singh said.

Rubinder Kaur, another parent said, “I am not going to send my precious child to school. We can think after a vaccine is formulated or there are zero cases in Chandigarh.”

Anita Karwal, secretary of school education and literacy, ministry of human resource development (MHRD), will hold a video conference with representatives of all states and UTs on reopening of schools, on Tuesday. Based on the meeting, the feedback of stakeholders will be taken into account, as per sources.

Director of school education, Rubinderjit Singh Brar said, “We have the month of June and we will have wide deliberations with every stakeholder.”

HS Mamik, president of independent schools’ association said, “Private schools will follow safety norms and procedures as per recommendation of the government.”