About 50% of the permitted students attended physical classes at various Indian schools on Tuesday on the first day of the new academic year - the first time since schools were closed due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
Government had permitted to resume the academic year with 30% of the students attending the classes at the school campus and the rest continuing online classes.
With blended education in practice, most Indian schools had prepared a schedule allowing 30% of the students to attend the classes on the campus for one or two days a week.
While some schools appealed the parents to drop and pick their children, several schools had provided school transport adhering to strict Covid-19 protocols. Schools also had applied all the necessary precautions to make sure that every student follows the Covid-19 preventive and precautionary measures.
Students enter Birla Public School following social distancing on Tuesday
DPS MIS principal, Asna Nafees said that almost 50% of the allowed students attended the school. “We received 50% out of the one third of the students scheduled to attend the class. This is very encouraging as parents and students are eager to make sure that physical classes take place at the earliest. School appreciates the trust shown by the parents towards the arrangements made for reopening.”
Nafees also noted that it was heartening to welcome the students after such a long time. “The day went off very well and all of us complied well with the guidelines issued by the government. We have also provided transport facility for the students with all the safety precautions. We hope the situation improves in the coming days,” she added.
Ideal Indian School principal, Syed Shoukat Ali also noted that about 50% of the allotted students had attended the school on the first day. “Out of the prescribed 30%, we had over 50% of the students attending classes on Tuesday. However, in lower classes, the strength was considerably lesser but higher classes recorded good number of students. Our school timing is until 12.30 pm.”
Ali pointed out that very few students availed the school transportation. “Though we had made arrangements for school transport, very few students opted it. This could be due to the certain concerns of the parents and students. Many of the buses had only a handful of students while some of them returned empty,” he explained.
Students' temperature being checked at Ideal Indian School on Tuesday
Birla Public School's construction manager Jackson T Solomon echoed the same sentiments and said that all the campuses of the school were functional from day one. “We had good attendance at all the three campuses. Officials from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education had visited the school and they were very happy with the arrangements made. We hope the number of students go up in the coming days. We have also refrained from arranging school transport and have appealed the parents to drop and pick the kids,” he said.
MES Indian School reopened after summer break on Tuesday following the guidelines and recommendations issued by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the Ministry of Public Health on Covid-19 prevention and control in schools, principal Hameeda Kadar said in a statement.
"The first three days of the commencement of the academic session is primarily dedicated to raising students’ awareness on Covid-19 protocols. During the school hours, students were advised to practice mindfulness about keeping safe distance from others, proper ways of eating and sanitising," she explained.
The school has adopted a blended learning system with only a third of students attending the physical class on a day, with the rest attending online classes from home. The schedule for school days and remote learning were shared with the students and parents.
"Further guidelines will be shared from time-to-time in WhatsApp groups and parent-portal as per the directives of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education," the principal added.
