BHOPAL: Some private and all government schools opened after about six months on Monday but parents remained reluctant to send their children to schools. The highest number of students reported in a school did not go above ten.
Several private schools chose to adopt wait and watch while all government schools remained open. Even some Christian missionary Schools remained closed while some were open.
Some prominent schools like Sagar Public School, Sanskar Valley School, Carmel Convent School, Campion School etc remained closed. The school management of these schools say that there were some ambiguity in guidelines due to which they chose to remain close.
The guidelines say that students will seek time from school authorities and then come to school but do not clarify on how they will seek time from the school authorities. Others say that they were making a schedule of teachers availability after which they will open the school.
‘The guidelines do not specify the numbers of students that are allowed to come to school to clear their doubts. We can take decision only after talking to the district education officer,’ said Sunil Pathak, principal of Jawaharlal Nehru Higher Secondary School.
‘Number of children present in government schools could be more because of awareness level of parents. However, in private schools only a couple of students had gone as their parents were well aware of the situation and did not want their children at risk,’ said Prabodh Pandya convener of Palak Mahasangh.
According to guidelines, students from class 9-12 were allowed to go to schools to clear their doubts. Regular classes are not allowed at present. Several schools like Saint Mary School, Subhash Excellence School, Gyan Ganga School did not find any student visiting their campus. On the other hand, several private schools remained closed and continued with their online classes.
‘This was the first day after six months. Parents and students still have apprehension about Covid protocol. Parents came to drop their children and were satisfied with the arrangements. Gradually the situation will become normal and numbers of students will increase,’ said principal of Bal Bhawan School, Rajesh Kumar Sharma.
