More schools across Maharashtra reopen

A few more schools and junior colleges reopened on Tuesday, the second day after the Maharashtra government permitted students from classes 8 to 12 to attend schools from October 4 onwards

A few more schools and junior colleges reopened on Tuesday, the second day after the Maharashtra government permitted students from classes 8 to 12 to attend schools from October 4 onwards. This decision was purely on the basis of parents’ consent. As hardly 50 to 70% parents have given consent in individual educational institutes, provisions to conduct both online as well as offline sessions are being made.

A few more schools and junior colleges reopened on Tuesday, the second day after the Maharashtra government permitted students from classes 8 to 12 to attend schools from October 4 onwards. This decision was purely on the basis of parents’ consent. As hardly 50 to 70% parents have given consent in individual educational institutes, provisions to conduct both online as well as offline sessions are being made. (HT PHOTO)

“We planned to start phase-wise as many students may find it difficult to travel. Initially we will only be conducting science practicals and have formed batches of 30 students each accordingly. On the first day, barring a handful all students were present in the college, we set up a complete protocol in place and explained the same to staff and students in terms of Covid precautions,” said Hemlata Bagla, principal, KC College, Churchgate.

Some schools have received a positive response on the second day with more students keen on attending classes. Kshama Valanjoo, assistant headmistress, VPM’s Vidya Mandir High School, Dahisar, said, “We have scheduled alternate offline sessions, class 10 attended on Monday and classes 8 and 9 attended on Tuesday. On the first day, from the total strength of 170, around 82 students had visited school. However, on Tuesday, 138 from around 336 attended school, which included some who came at the last minute with parents’ consent. We have adopted a hybrid model of classroom so those attending online probably noted the interactive sessions and safety measures within the classroom. Such that we have received calls from parents who did not give consent initially requesting to be able to send their kids to school as well.

As online examinations are ongoing, many schools have decided to wait for a few more days or another week before starting offline classes. “We had already scheduled the online exams, to conduct the same offline or in a hybrid format will need a lot of coordination. Moreover, children get disturbed if their examination patterns are changed mid-way. So we plan to wait until the exams are over and then start school,” said Kala Gangadharan, Principal, Rajhans Vidyalaya, Andheri.

Similarly, Smt Sulochanadevi Singhania School in Thane started classes for only class 12 on Monday. “We shall wait for the examinations to complete before starting offline sessions for class 8 onwards,” said Revathi Srinivasan, principal, Smt Sulochanadevi Singhania School, Thane.

Meanwhile, some parents continue to be sceptical about sending their children to school. “Children have been indoors for almost two years now, they are eager to step out and meet their classmates. However, if it was a matter of a day or two we could have given it a thought but to send them regularly will be difficult. Once the children get comfortable they will let their guards down and not follow the mask, sanitiser and social distancing rules,” said Pradeep Shettye, parent of a 13-year-old boy Rudra Shetye from Airoli who has not given consent yet.