Indore: Mixed reactions of students, teachers over government’s decision to close school till Jan 31

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): As Covid-19 cases are surging in Madhya Pradesh, the state government on Friday decided to close all the schools from class-1 to class-12 till January 31.

The students in Indore gave mixed reactions over the government's decision.

Though the students and parents agreed with the decision, they said the learning would be a major challenge with no offline classes.

“It’s amazing how corona knows that exams are near and it comes to attack,” Sheena Tiwari, a student returning home from school with her friends on Friday, sarcastically said.

Another student in group Javisha Dhope said, “On a serious note, we are not learning much this year as it is almost impossible to study properly at home.” She added that students were missing school life now. Though, she agreed that the government’s decision was right.

“We often don’t realise the importance of schooling until we are denied it,” Krishna Kate, a student of grade 11, said.

He added that though students understood that closing the school was important. “Effective ways of learning in this era still need to evolve,” Kate said.

Like students, teachers too supported the government’s decision but they also noted the challenges in online classes.

“We have been working from school and in a way, it’s better because we can support each other in tackling issues of online teaching,” teacher Rashmi Sharma said.

She added that online teaching comes with new challenges for teachers.

“A major challenge is monitoring learning and teaching students online where discipline is tough,” Kavita Kulkarni, another teacher, said.

She added that teachers often support each other with content and other ideas as well.

“That coordination was good, but on the other hand, it is important to consider the safety of everyone and keep distance,” Kulkarni said.

“I have toddlers at home, so it is much better to take the necessary precautions, especially after what the second wave did to families,” Akanksha Khanna, a teacher, said.