Delhi’s students glad to be back in class, mixed reaction from parents

When 14-year-old Deepanshu Jha, a class 9 student at a government school in Shalimar Bagh, heard on Friday that schools will reopen from September 1, he could hardly believe it

When 14-year-old Deepanshu Jha, a class 9 student at a government school in Shalimar Bagh, heard on Friday that schools will reopen from September 1, he could hardly believe it. It was only after a phone call to his teacher that Jha began celebrating — at long last, he was going to meet his friends, classmates and teachers.

While classes briefly resumed for students of classes 9 to 12 between January and February, students from junior sections had to remain at home for the past 17 months. (HT Photo)

“I’m excited about meeting my friends again. I miss my games classes, fitness training and I hope that our school resume those. My stamina has reduced due to lack of physical activity,” he said.

Like Jha, several other junior school students in the national capital said they were thrilled to be going back to school after remaining at home since March last year when schools were shut in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While classes briefly resumed for students of classes 9 to 12 between January and February, students from junior sections had to remain at home for the past 17 months.

On Friday, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said while students of classes 9 to 12 could return to schools from September 1, a decision on junior classes will be taken only in the coming days, based on the initial response from stakeholders. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday allowed schools to call back students of classes 6 to 8 from September 8.

Sonam Lhadon, a class 8 student at The Indian School in south Delhi, said she hasn’t met most of her teachers since March 2020. “When I last visited our school, I was in class 6 and knew all my teachers. But in the past 17 months, I have interacted with my new teachers only virtually. I am excited to go back to school, catch up with friends and study with my teachers,” she said.

"I am also happy that my screentime will be reduced because my eyesight has become poorer in the past one year," she added.

Prince, a class 11 student at a Delhi government school in Aya Nagar, was also happy about going offline. “Online classes are not seamless; network issues create a lot of disturbance. We understand better in a classroom. It would be good to get back to school,” he said.

Parents, on the other hand, greeted the decision to reopen schools with mixed feelings. Vikas Sharma, whose children study in class 6 and 2 in DAV Public School, Puspanjali Enclave, said, “I will not be sending my daughter to class 6 because children are yet to be vaccinated. We have seen instances of the virus spreading whenever schools reopened. If my kids are alive, they will study again.”

Parents’ association also condemned the move. “The people of Delhi have seen the terror of death during the second wave. Government and schools should submit an affidavit taking responsibility for the safety of children and constitute Covid safety committees in schools with parent participation to enforce all protocols,” said Aprajita Gautam, president of Delhi Parents’ Association.

College students, too, were happy lot on Friday. Shyama Manna, 21, a first-year masters student at Ambedkar University, said, “Our teachers recently sought feedback from us on our willingness to come to college for in-person classes. I prefer going to college since my course is performance studies. Due to the pandemic, the focus was only on theory and academics and no performance took place last year,” said Manna.

(With inputs from Sadia Akhtar)