Schools reopen in Gurugram, records low attendance

School authorities said that many parents were reluctant to send their wards to school, expressing concerns over the possible third wave of Covid-19

Most of the private schools in Gurugram resumed offline classes on Monday, but the overall attendance was as low as 30%, officials said. School authorities said that many parents were reluctant to send their wards to school, expressing concerns over the possible third wave of Covid-19.

Schools have to follow all Covid-19 guidelines, officials said. (HT archive)

However, in both private and government schools, the attendance was high for classes 10 and 12 due to the upcoming board examinations as it is mandatory for such students to attend physical classes, the officials said.

“The overall attendance in private schools was poor at 30%, while the same for government schools was as high as 80%. However, classes 10 and 12 in both government and private schools saw an attendance of almost 90% on Monday,” said a district education officer, seeking anonymity.

According to the officials, parents’ consent is mandatory for the students to attend junior classes.

After getting the government’s nod to reopen from September (after the second Covid wave subsided in Haryana), schools in Gurugram were closed again from November 14 to 17 due to the deteriorating air quality. On November 17, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) directed that all private and government schools, and other educational institutions in Delhi and other NCR cities should remain closed “until further orders”.

On November 25, the deputy commissioner of Gurugram released an order allowing all schools as well as other educational institutions to open from Friday (November 26) with strict Covid protocols. Only a few schools reopened on Friday.

Sudha Goyal, director of the Scottish High International School, said tat parents still want their children to attend classes online. “Due to board exams, the senior students are attending physical classes. But parents of students studying in junior classes are not willing to send their wards to school due to the poor air quality and the Covid fear,” she said.

Rohit Mann, director, Lancers International School, said, “Being an international school with expat population, we are yet to have our expatriate families rejoin. Many of them are yet to arrive in India and this has influenced our on-site attendance. Besides, parents are still cautious and are waiting for children to get vaccinated before they can send them to school,” he said.

Aparna Erry, principal of DAV Public School, Sector 14, said that on Monday they started the offline classes again and were overwhelmed with the response in terms of students’ attendance.

However, the government schools on Monday witnessed a robust attendance at 80% as parents opted for physical classes due to challenges in terms of internet connection and devices, the officials said.

Sunil Kumar Sharma, principal of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Jacobpura, said that they received 1,400 students, out of the 1,456 students, in classes 9 to 12. “Parents and students now want to attend in-person classes as many of them were facing issues with online classes. There is no substitute for regular studies and due to lack of adequate resources in rural areas, many students were unable to attend online classes,” he said.

The education officer said that schools have to follow all Covid-19 guidelines and if anyone found violating the norms, strict action will be taken against them.