Noida: Officials hope of a higher turnout in schools this week

NOIDA: With the response coming from the schools in Gautam Budh Nagar district, it is expected that more students will attend school in person this week, district

NOIDA: With the response coming from the schools in Gautam Budh Nagar district, it is expected that more students will attend school in person this week, district education officials said. The turnout in private schools and government schools has been recorded 15% and 30% respectively, ever since the state government allowed schools to open for classes 9 to 12 from October 19.

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Neeraj Pandey, the Gautam Budh Nagar district inspector of schools (DIOS), said that initially, the response from parents in sending their children to schools was lukewarm but the situation is improving. “So far, the turnout in private CBSE schools in the district is less than 15%. But we hope that it will be doubled this week, given as parents have started showing interest in sending their children back to school. I hope that from this week, the student turnout will at least be double than what we are seeing, in private schools,” he said.

When contacted, Kamini Bhashin, the principal of DPS Noida, said the school has already started classes for students of Class 9 to 12. “Though the attendance is not very encouraging, we have decided to start the practical classes, particularly for classes 10 and 12, from Monday as they have to take their Board examinations next year. The school has also decided to conduct a full-fledged examination, which will be different from the regular pattern, enlisting the participation and cooperation of the parents at home and the teachers at school,” she said.

She further said that the objective of the exam is to gauge the students’ understanding of concepts and to give them an exposure to writing three-hour long papers at one go.

“We see parents as co-partners in the child’s education and hence solicit their active support in executing the exam in the safety of your homes. We would like to share the exam plan with them. The exams will commence from November 23, in which the entire syllabus will be evaluated. Examinations are about confidentiality, so parents are requested to create a new e-mail id, which would be used exclusively to share the question paper, and ensure their ward has no access to the password. The new id has to be shared with the home room teachers (HRTs),” she said.

On the other hand, Renu Singh, the principal of Amity school (Noida), said the school has not yet started in-person lessons for class 9 to 12. “The parents’ response is very cold. We are waiting for a better response. Only then will we start in person lessons for them,” she said.

Meanwhile, parents also believe that after Diwali, the turnout of students will increase in the schools. Anchal Vohra of sector 77, said that a lot of parents in his society have agreed to send their children back for in-person classes in schools. “They need to be there for practicals. We’ll send our children to school after Diwali,” he said.

Echoing similar views, Sushmita Singh of Sector 25 (Noida), said: “Online classes can only enhance their academic credentials. But in-person classes are needed for their overall development, we have decided to send our children to school once Diwali is over,” she said.