Summary
Offline lessons in the open for students of Classes I to VII
Midday meal served to children
Nandan Das, a Class I student, had a busy day on his first day at Paray Shikshalay, open-air classes initiated by the West Bengal government for primary schoolchildren.
Edugraph visited the Paray Shikshalay at Jatin Moitra Park, Darjipara, in north Kolkata and met a bunch of happy children. The first day of learning was spent on fun activities such as drawing, colouring and playing.
The Paray Shikshalay in Kolkata Municipal Corporation Ward 17 was held in two batches. About 37 students of pre-primary to Class II attended class in a park. Four schools of the locality—Samta Prathomik Vidyalaya, Satyendra Nath Datta Smriti Prathamik Vidyalaya, Calcutta Vidya Bhawan and Sree Bidyaniketan Primary School — joined class.
“Students are happy to return to class and some of them are coming to school for the first time. We don’t want to put much pressure on the first day, so we have decided to take it slow. We are covering only the alphabet and numbers for the children of Classes I and II,” said Pompa Ghosh, the headmistress of Satyendra Nath Datta Smriti Prathamik Vidyalaya.
Many attended school for the first time. “I made drawings and wrote spellings too. I will come every day from now. I have made a new friend too,” Nandan said.
The councillor of KMC Ward 17, Mohan Kumar Gupta, visited the classes and distributed three-ply surgical masks among all students and teachers.
The class timings were shortened on the first day to observe a day of mourning for Lata Mangeshkar, who passed away on February 6. Classes began around 11am and midday meal was served at 12.30pm.
Parents, too, were happy that the children could experience a classroom-like environment.
“My child was admitted to school last year and today is his first day in school. He did not make a fuss at all. He was waiting to attend class,” Nandan’s mother said.
Last updated on 07 Feb 2022
