Chandigarh: Poor response as Classes 7 and 8 return to school

As per Chandigarh education department data, only 12% of around 25,000 students in the two classes attended school

Government schools in Chandigarh reopened for Classes 7 and 8 on Monday and only around 11% students turned up on Day 1.

Students from Classes 7 and 8 of government schools in Chandigarh had to bring a signed consent letter from their parents, which was checked at the entrance before they were allowed inside (HT file)

As per data with the UT education department, of 13,024 students enrolled in Class 7, 1,550 (11.9%) turned up. From Class 8, 1,607 (11.56%) of 13,903 attended.

Schools had reopened for Classes 9 onwards on July 19 and attendance has risen from 15% in the beginning to 36.19% for Class 9, 37.46% for Class 10 and 19% for Class 12. Overall attendance was 23.47% at government schools on Monday.

A teacher said, “Students of Classes 7 and 8 are younger, so parents are more hesitant to send them. Further, they aren’t in board classes so their strength remained lower, but we expect it to rise in the coming days.”

Students had to bring a signed consent letter from their parents, which was checked at the school entrance before they were allowed inside. Entrance timings were also staggered to ensure no crowding.

There are 43 government senior secondary schools and 54 government high schools in the city which were open on Monday. There are around 67,000 students enrolled in Classes 7 and above, while classes for Class 11 will start once the admission process is over.

Private schools have also been allowed to hold physical classes from Class 7 onwards, but president of the Independent School Association, HS Mamik, said they will first reach out to parents and ask them if they are willing to send their kids.