Schools reopen for in-person classes, only 20% students turn up in GB Nagar

Government and private schools in Gautam Budh Nagar reopened for in-person classes for students of classes 9 to 12 on Monday for the first time since April when they were shut following the second wave of Covid-19 infections

Government and private schools in Gautam Budh Nagar reopened for in-person classes for students of classes 9 to 12 on Monday for the first time since April when they were shut following the second wave of Covid-19 infections.

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Dharmveer Singh, district inspector of schools, said only 15%-20% of the total student strength turned up for their first day.

“We inspected eight schools for Covid safety precautions and found that the strength of classes in many of them were very low, between 15% and 20%. Today was the first day which is probably why there were fewer students and the numbers may increase over the week. The schools that were inspected were found following instructions of the government on health protocols, such as the use of sanitisers, masks and social distancing, and were conducting classes in two shifts,” said Singh.

He said that there are 150 Uttar Pradesh Secondary Board schools, and 200 CBSE schools in the district in which more than 100,000 children study in classes 9 to 12.

This time too many of those restrictions were still in place - a cap on the student strength, in-person attendance only with the consent of the ward’s parent or guardian and online classes should go on.

“I was anxious of coming to school but also excited. It feel good to be in a classroom again and be able to meet my classmates and teachers rather than seeing them through a small screen on my mobile,” said Ruchika Joshi, a student of class 12 at the Government Primary School, Sadarpur, Noida.

“Out of 350 students, around 20% students came to school on Monday. The classes were held in two shifts- 8 am to noon then 12.30pm to 4.30 pm,” said Indu Sharma, principal of the school.

At DPS Noida, practical classes for science subjects were held for students of class 12 from 7.45 am to 11.05 am.

“A total of 30 students of class 12 came to school on Monday as we will be holding practical classes for the students till August 20 in batches of 30 students. Tomorrow, the next 30 students of class 12 will be coming. Online classes are resuming for the other classes,” said Kamini Bhasin, principal at the school.

At Amity International School, Noida, only 2% of their students in classes 9 to 12 attended in-person.

“We have followed all Covid protocols and have informed all 3,500 students in these classes of our schedule for conducting practical classes. Unfortunately, we received a poor response,” said Renu Singh, Principal of the school.

Meanwhile, Manoj Kataria from Gautam Budh Nagar Parents Welfare Society said that while parents wanted to send their kids to attend in-person classes, they were scared due to Covid as well.

“I had conducted a survey of 155 parents of students studying in classes 9-12 across GB Nagar asking them whether they are comfortable sending their children to school and 87.2% said no. I feel parents will be more comfortable once the government allows vaccines for children,” he said.