Maha schools reopen: Thane students excited to head to school after 19 months

Around 62 students of Shreerang Vidyalaya’s class 10 came to school with their parents’ consent forms in hand. Students formed a queue, as staff checked their temperature at the entrance

Best friends Vaishnavi Kamat and Dhanvi Sakharkar from Shreerang Vidyalaya and Junior College in Thane were excited to head to school on Monday morning. Both 15-year-olds were meeting each other after almost 19 months. Just as they were about to greet each other with a warm hug outside the school gates, parents and school staff were quick to remind the girls about the social distancing rules.

Students catch up with each other at Shreerang Vidyalaya in Thane, on Monday. (Praful Gangurde/HT PHOTO)

Around 62 students of Shreerang Vidyalaya’s class 10 came to school with their parents’ consent forms in hand. Students formed a queue, as staff checked their temperature at the entrance. Posters in the school’s common areas reminded students to maintain distance. Inside each classroom, students were asked to sit on alternate seats. Teachers wore masks and gloves and the day started with a set of instructions issued to the students regarding Covid protocols.

“I was most excited to meet my friends and teachers whom we have been interacting only through online sessions since the past year and a half. Although school means more discipline if compared to offline classes, we missed attending physical classes all this while,” Dhanvi said.

The school had adopted a hybrid teaching method, wherein the students who did not visit physical classes could attend online. “An additional teacher was present in every classroom to stream the physical session on the online platform and monitor the students in the online class at the same time. We did not want to make it hectic for teachers as they would otherwise have to take the same session twice,” said Chandrika Nair, the headmistress at Shreerang Vidyalaya and Junior College.

The school only called class 10 students on Monday. It will conduct classes for classes 10 and 12 on alternate days. The school also plans to resume physical classes for class 8 students eventually, after receiving consent from parents. The school and the junior college have a strength of 133 and 55 students respectively. Only 62 and 35 students respectively came on Monday.

“We were a tad nervous as they were going out on their own after a long period, however the precautions mentioned within the school premises was an assurance that our students will be safe,” said Varsha Kamat, parent to a 15-year-old.

Saleha Shaikh, a class 10 student, said, “We were relieved to not have an online sessions today. It was easier to understand the Math class and I could clear my doubts immediately. It was easier to take notes during the class as well.”

Students attended three hours of school on the first day. “We have asked both students and parents to ensure that the children reach home immediately after school and should not be found loitering anywhere outside,” said Pramod Sawant, Trustee, Shreerang vidyalaya and junior college. Every evening the school premises will be sanitized completely and kept prepared for classes on the next day, said the school staff.

Saraswati secondary school welcomed students with shower of flowers and all teachers and staff were given a rose each as part of their welcome. Along with students and parents, officials from Thane were also excited for school to reopen. Thane Mayor, Naresh Mhaske, visited his alma mater, Saraswati secondary School, Thane on Monday morning. “As a student I always wanted to ring the school bell, today I got an opportunity to ring the morning bell in school and start classes,” said Mhaske.

In the rural areas of Thane district, classes for grade 5 to 8 began today, from mid-July classes had resumed in rural areas gradually and 88 schools were functioning. From among 1131 school within rural areas of Thane district, 963 reopened on Monday, from among 1.46 lakh students around 79,130 students attended school for class 5 to 12 in the rural areas.