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Chandigarh’s private schools reopen for new session: Eager kids drive attendance to 90% on Day 1
Kicking off a new session in fully offline mode for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020, most private schools in Chandigarh reported over 90% attendance on the first day itself
Normalcy in school education seemed to return on Monday, as most private schools in the city started the 2022-2023 academic session with a go at completely offline classes.
Kicking off a new session in fully offline mode for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020, most schools reported over 90% attendance on the first day itself.
“Almost 100% attendance was recorded in all classes. Teachers and students were in a jubilant mood. The younger children were the most excited,” said Atul Khanna, director of Strawberry Fields High School in Sector 26.
Principal of St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, Louis Lopez also said that around 95% students turned up on Monday as the new session commenced, which was quite encouraging for the staff.
Around 90% attendance was also seen at St John’s High School in Sector 26, where principal Kavita Das said they had sanitised the school for the safety of children, who were welcomed by staff with complete gusto.
Principal of Gurukul Global School in Sector 13, Nina Pandey said approximately 94% of the students had come on the first day.
Though children were seen wearing masks while attending school, their parents waiting for them outside were mostly without one.
Some schools had already reopened for the new session before Monday. Sister Arti, the principal of Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School in Sector 26, that reopened on April 1, said, “The response was overwhelming on the first day itself and now the attendance has gone up to 100%. The girls are ecstatic to be physically present in classes again and experience all that the school life has to offer.”
Two parents of students here, Seema and Akshay said while earlier some parents were hesitant to send their wards to school, the decline in Covid-19 cases and increase in vaccination coverage had encouraged them to change their mind.
Meanwhile, some private schools have yet to take a call to reopen. At Vivek High School in Sector 38, an orientation session was conducted with parents on Monday.
While the school is set to start the new session on Wednesday, its chairman HS Mamik said most students were expected to show up on Wednesday as per the feedback received.
Traffic bottlenecks mark day
The excitement for the new school year led to heavy traffic jams outside schools. With most bus operators yet to resume services, parents queued up outside schools to drop and pick their children on the first day of the session.
The situation got especially bad in Sector 26 where Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, St John’s High School, Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, St Kabir Public School and Strawberry Fields High School are all located on the same road.
One way traffic was implemented and cops were on duty to direct the commuters.
Even at schools where buses have become operational, pangs were experienced. While some people complained that buses didn’t cover the whole route, others said their wards didn’t return home for over 90 minutes after school got over.
At government schools, year-end exams are still underway. Instructions for reopening of schools will be issued after the results are declared.
(With inputs from Priyanka Thakur)
