Survey: Parents Not Ready For Schools Reopen

The central government has decided to lift the lockdown imposed to check the spread of Covid-19 and began issuing orders for relaxations in various sectors phase-wise across the country. The managements of various educational institutions are also eager to open the doors for the students after the lockdown. However, parents are wary in sending their children to schools as they feel it is wrought with risk.

In foreign countries too, educational institutions were reopened after the lockdown but France registered 70 Coronavirus cases last week, despite ensuring physical distancing in the schools.

Denmark was the first European country to reopen schools last month and parents raised their voice saying that their children were being used as ‘guinea pigs’ to test government policies.

At the same time, there is a growing concern that the children might lose something more important if they stopped attending schools for months together.

In Israel, 15 schools were shut down to check the outbreak of Covid-19 just within a week after reopening, following the pandemic-induced lockdown.

RECENT SURVEY

In the wake of these reports, parents in India are worried to send their children to schools. In a recent survey held in 224 districts by an NGO Local Circles, it was found that parents were not willing to drop their children in schools for studying, even when the managements of the schools are trying to build confidence among them that they would follow all the protocols to minimise the risk of contracting the disease. Majority of the parents have been suggesting that the schools continue virtual classes till a vaccine was found for the virus.

Meanwhile, the Union Human Resources ministry is framing the guidelines for the functioning of educational institutions.

Over 37 per cent of parents participated in the survey. It revealed that parents in areas where no fresh cases were registered in the last 21 days within 20-km radius were willing to send their children to schools. Over 20 per cent of the parents are of opinion that schools should be reopened only after three weeks of reaching the zero-case mark. Meanwhile, 13 per cent of them felt that the best option was to open schools only after a vaccine was found.

MANY OPT FOR ONLINE

As per the Unlock 1.0 guidelines issues by the Union home ministry, a final decision on the reopening of schools would be taken only after discussing with the state governments and other stakeholders in July. Some parents felt that the online classes held by a majority of the educational institutions during lockdown were effective and they wanted the same to be continued, instead of asking the students to come to schools.

The Haryana state government declared that schools would reopen in July and that secondary grade students would be asked to attend the classes first. More than 75 per cent of the parents felt that the guidelines for functioning of schools should be very strict and the vital protocol of physical distance must be maintained in the educational institutions.

At the same time, it should be recalled that there has been dilly-dallying on conducting the Class X examinations. The High Court of Telangana intervened and asked the state government to consider the concern of the parents and postpone the final examinations in view of the risk involved if any of the students contracted the virus.

PETITIONS FROM PARENTS

Recently, over 2 lakh parents from across the country submitted a petition to the government demanding that schools should not be reopened till the Covid-19 situation improved or till a vaccine was ready.

Meanwhile, an online petition on change.org, by a group called the ‘Parents Association’ also opposed the government’s decision to reopen schools in July. The petition called ‘No Schools until Zero Covid Case in the State or until Vaccines are out’ was petitioned to the minister of HRD, Government of India and PS to the Minister of HRD. The parents said that “it’s like playing with fire” and the petition garnered over 5,56,488 signatures.