Several private schools are calling children back to the campus or have decided to do so because of the “favourable” weather in the last couple of days. At least two schools which shifted to online classes because of the heatwave-like conditions last week have decided to resume in-person classes.
Mahadevi Birla World Academy will resume in-person classes on Tuesday from kindergarten to Class XII, an official said. The school had gone back to online classes last week. Indus Valley World School, which too switched to online classes last week, has decided to call back all students to the campus for in-person classes from next week.
“The announcement will be made on Wednesday. Parents have to be given time to switch from one mode to another,” said an official of the school.
South Point, the first private school in the city to go online because of the heat, resumed in-person classes on Monday. Sri Sri Academy continued with in-person classes this week for Classes VI to XII. “We would have gone back online had the heatwave-like condition continued,” an official said.
The state government had on April 27 announced an early summer break in the schools run or aided by it, except the ones in the hill districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, because of scorching heat.
Many private schools switched to online classes but decided against advancing the summer recess.
“We received many emails from parents, especially those whose children are in junior classes. They said they were finding it difficult to continue with online classes because they have returned to work. Parents of some senior students, too, wrote to us that they could not spare a device (for online classes). We have decided to resume in-person classes since the weather has improved,” said Amita Prasad, director of Indus Valley World School.
During the last two years, even working parents were mostly at home because of Covid and could share their devices with the children for online classes. Mahadevi Birla World Academy principal Anjana Saha said online lessons were not the same as in-person classes.
“There has been an unlearning and we need to address that as well,” she said.
Sri Sri Academy is sending forms to parents of children from lower nursery to Class III, asking them whether they wanted online classes to continue.
“If parents agree, we will give them online classes. We are having online lessons for Classes IV and V because they can manage on their own. But the smaller ones need parental supervision,” said principal Suvina Shunglu.