Delhi: For many in junior grades, first sight of classrooms in two years

Amid the decline in Covid-19 cases in the national capital, the Delhi government allowed reopening of schools for students from nursery to Class 8 from Monday

Six year-old Devansh Chauhan was elated as he entered a classroom for the first time in nearly two years on Monday, when schools in the city reopened for students in Class 8 and below.

Students attend classes during the second phase of school reopening at Mount Abu School in Rohini, on Monday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT)

The Class 1 student of the School of Specialised Excellence (SoSE) in Kalkaji waved excitedly at his friend Umar, whom he was meeting for the first time since schools were shut in Delhi amid the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Chauhan said that while his parents used to teach him at home, he would often get bored at home and miss Umar and his other friends. “During online classes, I used to sleep late and wake up late the next day. But today, I woke up early in the morning despite the cold to reach school in time for class,” said Chauhan, as he enumerated the variety of activities that he had taken part in on the first day of school.

Amid the decline in Covid-19 cases in the national capital, the Delhi government allowed reopening of schools for students from nursery to Class 8 from Monday. While schools had last reopened for children in all grades in November last year, many schools, including Chauhan’s, continued with online classes for students in junior classes at the time.

On Monday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted photos of students at different schools. “Schools have also reopened for junior classes in Delhi from today (Monday). Little children were also eagerly waiting for their schools to open. Childhood is incomplete without school. God forbid schools have to be closed ever again,” he tweeted in Hindi.

From a special morning assembly to interactive sessions that saw children taking an anti-bullying pledge, schools planned several activities as they welcomed the children back.

M Shariq, principal of SoSE Kalkaji, said that the school will not directly plunge into rigorous routine teaching but instead ease into it through fun-filled interactive activities in the first two weeks. “Today, we conducted a special assembly followed by zumba and storytelling sessions. Our goal is to ease children’s transition towards classroom learning,” said Shariq, adding that the school saw over 50% attendance in classes 1 to 5 on the first day.

The principal said they have planned outreach efforts with parents and the school management committees to increase attendance. “Only a month is left for the completion of the session. We are focusing on bringing all the children back to the classroom and will reach out to their parents individually to ensure that the attendance goes above 90% by the end of the week,” said Shariq.

Lakshita Bangari, another Class 1 student at the same school who returned after two years, said that learning was more enjoyable with classmates. “We took part in prayers and games, along with studies today. In online classes, we don’t get to enjoy or talk to classmates the way we do in school,” said Bangari.

Vandana Gupta, the mother of a six-year-old who went to school on Monday, said online classes were not a replacement for in-person sessions in schools.

“We have already seen two years of online classes. How long can learning continue online when children do not understand concepts well?,” said Gupta.

Many private schools resumed classes for children in the primary grades for the first time since the pandemic started.

At Mount Abu Public School in Rohini, attendance was above 50% in all grades from nursery to Class 8 on Monday. Its principal, Jyoti Arora, said the focus is on making learning enjoyable for students this week.

“We have planned activities wherein children get to interact and share their experiences. We want them to open up and settle down before we start rigorous teaching,” she said.

At Sarvodaya Co-ed Vidyalaya, Rohini, Sector 8, children were greeted with flowers, balloons and tilak by school administrators as they entered the school premises. “Both children and parents were overjoyed to see the warm welcome that our junior students received today,” said Awadhesh Kumar Jha, school principal.