E-Paper
Student turnout on the rise as safety measures win confidence of parents
On Friday, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) recorded 29
On Friday, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) recorded 29.31 per cent student turnout in class 5 to 8 across the city.
As schools reopened on February 1, the student turnout has been on a steady rise. Parents and school management noted that all safety measures are being taken against Covid-19 to ensure safety of students. Parents also shared that students are happy as schools are now offline.
Suresh Jagtap, additional commissioner, PMC said that initially the turnout of students was less and gradually it is increasing.
“We have seen this rise for class nine to 12 as well. Parents are hesitant initially but gradually give permission to students to attend school. The turnout of the students is slowly increasing,” said Jagtap.
Speaking about the reopening, Medha Sinnarkar, principal of Apte Prashala said that the turnout is increasing.
“The student turnout has improved since day one. We have alternate classes in our school, for example, if class 5 is coming to school today, class 6 will be attending school tomorrow. We sanitize the whole premise for the safety of our children. Also, children on the premises and under the supervision of our teachers adhere to social distancing and wear masks compulsorily,” said Sinnarkar.
She further added that students now understand the importance of hand hygiene and social distancing.
“They are very cautious about not forming a big group, maintaining proper distance and wearing masks at all times. Students also frequently use sanitizers,” said Sinnarkar.
A city-based parent Asmita Patil noted that her daughter is very happy to be back in offline school.
“The school is her happy place. She is in class 6th and is happy to go back to school. Online school was a little monotonous for her. She likes to step outside and now she even gets to meet her friends but in the past few months, she has understood the importance of wearing masks and hand hygiene. She follows it ardently in school as well,” said Patil.
Box
The turnout so far
Feb 12-- 29.31%
Feb 11-- 28.37%
Feb 10--27.29%
Feb 9--25.04%
Feb 3-- 22.27%
Feb 2--14.43%
Source: PMC
**Total schools in PMC limits that are opened for class 5 to 8-- 920
