Schools are towards the end of the academic session when the government issued the notification on resumption of in-person classes for students from classes VIII to XII from Thursday.
As private schools plan reopening, parents and teachers air their concerns
Disruption in routine: At least two schools do not want to reopen towards the end of the academic session and “disrupt the system”.
“We are at the fag end of the academic session and we have thought of planning for the next academic year,” said Jessica Gomes Surana, principal of Loreto Convent, Entally.
“We do not want to disrupt the system now because it could lead to more chaos.”
The school will hold on-campus exams for classes IX-XII in mid-February.
Vaccination: Most students have received only the first dose of Covaxin. “The worry for us is whether the health protocols can be maintained outside the gates,” said Manish Dalmia, a parent of a Class XII student.
Some parents have written to schools informing them that their children are not yet vaccinated. Schools said they could not make vaccination mandatory and that it was the parents’ responsibility to get their children vaccinated. South Point, which is resuming on-campus classes for IX and XI from Thursday, said it was making a database of vaccinated students.
Juggling online-offline: Several schools are planning “hybrid” classes — some students will be in class and the rest will have the lectures streamed to them. In November, when the schools had reopened briefly, the problems of the hybrid system came to the fore. Some fear these would continue.
Students out of town: There are students who are out of town because parents have moved to other cities.
If offline classes resume immediately, it will be difficult for many parents to make arrangements. “We will have to give them time,” said Indus Valley World School director Amita Prasad.
Transport: Parents are worried about making arrangements to drop their children to school at such a short notice. “They are worried about exposing the children to infection if they use public transport,” said St James’ School principal Terence Ireland.