'Masked up & distanced', students in several states get back to school

New Delhi: With trepidation and some excitement too, thousands of students returned to their classrooms to face a new Covid reality of masks and socially distanced camaraderie as schools in several states reopened on Wednesday.

Fifty per cent attendance, no shared tiffin or even stationery, staggered lunch hours and parental consent were some of the dos and don'ts for schools in several parts of the country, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, that opened their doors amid concerns that students had not been vaccinated and neither had all the staff.

While some schools opened for the first time since the pandemic last year, others restarted physical classrooms after the devastating second Covid wave. Now, with many states reporting a dip in numbers, it seemed time to get back on the school track, albeit in a hybrid online-offline format that would enable at least half the children to continue classes from home.

A school in Uttar Pradesh, where students of Classes 1-5 returned for the first since the lockdown in March last year, used balloons to say welcome back.

"It's good that school is reopening. I will meet my friends after a long gap," said Harsh, a Class 3 student of a private school in Lucknow.

His mother Megha, however, was apprehensive and said she will stop sending her son if she sees cases rise again

Her nervousness found wide echo. "In some classes with a strength of over 50 students, only one or two parents have given consent," a teacher at St Francis College in Lucknow said.

Classes from 9 to 12 in the state had resumed on August 16, and Classes 6 to 8 on August 24.

"Best wishes to students. The schools are reopening from today. All teachers are requested to take care of students and follow Covid protocol," Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said in a tweet in Hindi.

In Tamil Nadu, offline teaching for Classes 9 to 12 resumed with strict COVID-19 protocol in place. Physical classes in colleges also began.

In March this year, during the second wave, the government ordered the closure of schools for classes 9, 10 and 11 from March 22. However, it announced that they would continue to function for Class 12 students who had to appear for board exams.

In Rajasthan, too, government and private schools reopened for Classes 9 to 12 after the second wave. The turnout on the first day was low as online classes are also being held simultaneously.

The number of students who came on the first day was almost half the permissible number, but those who came were cheerful and excited. We have asked them to follow all protocols in view of their own safety, Sumita Minhas, principal of Podar World School, Jaipur, said.

With cases falling significantly in Madhya Pradesh, physical school for Classes 6 to 12 started with a 50 per cent cap on attendance. The state government had earlier reopened schools for Classes 9 to 12 in the last week of July with classes on specific days a week.

On Wednesday, while attendance was thin, some students said they were glad to attend physical classes after nearly 17 months.

Bhopal district education officer Nitin Saxena said that schools were directed to follow Covid protocols strictly and 50 per cent students out of the total strength were allowed to attend classes on alternate days.

In Chhattisgarh, the return to school process will take place a day later. The state government on Wednesday issued an order permitting private and government schools to reopen for Classes 6, 7, 9 and 11 with 50 per cent attendance from Thursday, an official said.

Schools resumed for Classes 1 to 5, 8, 10 and 12 from August 1.