The excitement and enthusiasm of young parents to see their children going to school at times surpasses that of the kids themselves.
Even more so since the schools have resumed physical classes after a gap of over two years.
Recently, when some schools had called pre-primary students to the campus to familiarise them with in-person classes for a couple of days before a full-fledged session starts in April, campuses were teeming with parents who were busy clicking photos of children “rather than allowing them to soak in and enjoy the experience of school”, said some teachers.
From making their kids pose in every possible way to click pictures, sometimes carrying balloons and banners with “return to school” written on them, waving at them till they are out of sight, are some of the things that teachers noticed many of the parents were doing.
At least two school heads said the parents were given some leeway because “there is a certain anxiety mixed with their enthusiasm” since the kids are going to school for the first time, away from their sheltered spaces.
Social media is flooded with “first day in school" pictures.
At least one class teacher asked the parents not to post her pictures with the kids on the social media but they could keep them for their private album.
At one school a mother wanted to click a photo of her five-year-old daughter while she was playing on the ground. The child looked irritated as her mother tried to make her pose for the camera. The kid was more interested in playing than getting pictures clicked.
“Parents have to know to cut the umbilical cord and leave the child in the classroom,” said Jessica Gomes Surana, principal of Loreto Convent Entally. “We anticipate that in the new session children up to Class I would take time to settle in when school starts full fledged,” she added.
“Parents are over enthusiastic because in the last two years they felt that their children were missing out on what a school is,” one teacher said.
The children have no idea of what school life is because they have not been to a school ever and they do not know what to look forward to, said Suvina Shunglu, principal of Sri Sri Academy.
School heads feel that over the years there is a change in expectations of parents and the pandemic has only increased those expectations.
For most of these parents it is also a first day in school and they want to “check” the amenities and the support that the school is providing.
“Younger parents like to hover around because they want to explore what the school is offering,” said Anjana Saha, principal of Mahadevi Birla World Academy.
Saha said that “the sacrosanct space between the child and the teacher” has been intruded upon by parents during online classes. Without parents’ help the child would not have been able to attend classes in the past two years.
“Now that circle of trust (between the child and the teacher) has to be re-established,” said Saha.
In some schools the weaning from parents has already started, where parents have been allowed only up to a certain point.
“We want a bond to develop between the students and the teachers and that will not happen if parents are around,” said Pratima Nayar, principal, junior school, Calcutta International School