Attendance picks up, but space concerns persist in Gurugram schools

Some of the larger government schools in the city on Monday reported an uptick in the number of students, four days after schools were allowed to reopen for classes

Some of the larger government schools in the city on Monday reported an uptick in the number of students, four days after schools were allowed to reopen for classes 9 to 12. However, smaller schools are still curtailed by their capacity to make arrangements for students, keeping in mind social distancing norms.

HT Image

Principals and teachers said that parents of nearly 70% of the class 12 students have permitted their wards to attend classes. In some instances, parents are also visiting the school to review the seating arrangements.

On Monday, the largest six of the 52 government schools in the city reported a footfall of over 200 students. There are 125 schools in the entire district.

“It is easy to manage a class of 10-15 students in one classroom, but if the number increases, then it would be challenging to adjust students,” said Raj Kumar, principal, Government Senior Secondary School in Islampur.

In Kumar’s school, at least 325 students are enrolled in classes 9 to 12. The school currently lacks basic infrastructure like proper rooms and benches.

“In class 12, 64 students are registered. Of them, only 15 are visiting the school as parents are hesitant to send them. Fixed number of students are called, based upon their roll number count. Once the footfall increases as we receive proper guidelines from the government, we might have to think of seating arrangements ensuring physical distancing among students. We may have to put carpet in the classroom and get students seated on the floor,” said Kumar.

Geeta Arya, principal of a senior secondary school near old Civil Hospital, Jharsa Road, shared similar views. “We have big classrooms, where students are being made to sit on every alternate bench to maintain distance. The footfall will gradually increase this week as many parents whose kids will appear for board exams this year are ready to send their kids to schools. They are coming along with children to see seating arrangements,” said Arya. There are almost 243 students in class 12 at Arya’s school. According to her, more than 70 students of class 12 are visiting the school.

Kavita Sapra, who teaches English at the Sector 4/7 Model Government Senior Secondary School, said, “Students are being called in slots and are seated accordingly, to avoid crowding. Every day, almost 70 students of class 12 are coming to school. On Monday, 43 from class 9, 41 from class 10 and 27 from class 11 attended their respective classes. Currently, every batch is being divided into two to three classes, where teachers take one class after the other.”

Both Kumar and Arya clarified that it would be difficult to have the entire class 12 batch in one go, even if the classrooms are available.

Suman Sharma, the principal of Sector 4/7 school, said that schools might not have enough teachers to take lectures. “Even if morning and evening shifts are created, and class 12 batch is divided into two, it won’t be possible to cater to the entire batch,” said Sharma.

In her school, there are 385 students in class 12 — enrolled in two sections of science, three of commerce and two of arts.

“Considering we call 192 students in the morning shift and the remaining half in the evening shift, then also it is impossible to hold classes. Even if we make 30 students sit in one classroom, then for 192 students we need six classrooms and six teachers who will reshuffle. It will require more teachers,” said Sharma.