Primary schools reopen in GB Nagar but with 20% attendance

Primary schools in Gautam Budh Nagar resumed in-person classes on Wednesday but with just 20% of the students in attendance, said district officials

Primary schools in Gautam Budh Nagar resumed in-person classes on Wednesday but with just 20% of the students in attendance, said district officials.

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In August, the Uttar Pradesh government had cleared classes from 1 to 5 to resume in-person sessions after nearly four months following the second wave of Covid-19 infections.

According to the state’s guidelines, schools are expected to scan children for fever at the gate and operate in two shifts - the first from 8am to 11am and the second from 11.30am till 2.30am. The schools are also required to get the written consent from the student’s parents or guardians allowing their wards to attend in-person classes. The other measures, such as physical distancing, masks and sanitisations too are required to be adhered to.

Schools had resumed in-person classes for grades 9 to 12 from August 16, and classes 6 to 8 from August 23, following the same protocols.

According to Gautam Budh Nagar basic shiksha adhikari (BSA) D K Singh, 577 government schools in the district resumed classes on Wednesday.

“The attendance was thin, around 20%. This could be because of the heavy rain on the first day. We hope that the strength increases in the coming days. In the meantime, online classes as well as in-person classes are going on in the schools,” said Singh.

He said there are around 300 private primary schools in the district.

“About 90% of the private schools in the district have not reopened for primary classes because they did not have enough parents’ consent,” he said.

Grads International School principal and president of the Gautam Budh Nagar chapter of the All India Principals’ Association Aditi Basu Roy said barely four to five children attended in-person classes at he private schools from grades 1 to 5.

“Private schools are operating in hybrid mode by holding online as well as in-person classes. On Wednesday, less than 10% schools resumed in-person classes. Attendance in most schools was below 10%. Parents are still not confident about sending their children to school not just because of fear of Covid-19 but also of the viral fever that is being reported from nearby districts,” she said.

Parents of students in private schools agreed to this view and said they were more comfortable with online classes till a vaccine is approved and made available for their children.

“Most parents have refused to send their children to schools because of the fear of a Covid-19 third wave. Moreover, students of class 1-5 are too young to be disciplined enough to follow Covid protocols religiously without high supervision. Parents are of the opinion that government should first vaccinate the children against Covid-19 and only then reopen the schools,” said Manoj Kataria, President of GB Nagar Parents Welfare Society.

“If the parents do not want to send their children to school, they can refuse and have full say in the same. The government has only ordered for reopening the schools so that those who want to go for in-person classes, have the option,” said BSA Singh. However, he said that if the trend seen in higher classes followed in primary schools, the strength is likely to increase in the coming days.

“Initially for classes 9 and upwards, we had very few students attending in-person classes but now the strength has steadily grown to around 40% in many schools,” he said.