Many parents averse to sending their children to schools, colleges

Attendance good in urban areas when compared to villages, says Krishna DEO

A teacher interacting with students at the ZP High School at Ramavarappadu in Vijayawada on Monday.

Majority of the parents are not ready to send their children to schools and colleges due to prevalence of COVID pandemic. Students too are in a grip of fear, though the government reopened schools and colleges on Monday.

All the school and college students attended classes by wearing gloves and masks. They carried water bottles, napkins and sanitisers. Some were also seen wearing face shields.

Teachers were seen attending classes by following COVID-19 protocol. They spent most of the time by teaching COVID-19 preventive measures, rules and precautions to be taken in classrooms, dining halls and toilets.

The school managements arranged thermo scanners, tested the students and took consent letters from the parents for allowing students. However, many parents submitted letters expressing unwillingness to send their wards to schools.

Staff asked the students not to exchange books, water bottles and other belongings. In some institutions, the managements arranged hot water.

Parents and elders in the families urged the school managements not to insist on physical presence of students and continue online classes, which are safe, in the wake of the COVID-19 cases and deaths in the State.

Meetings held

At the meetings held with the parents associations in some schools on Sunday, parents appealed to the school managements to ensure cleanliness in classrooms, complete sanitisation in corridors and toilets.

“I don’t want to send my son to school, as the virus is still prevalent and there is no vaccine to prevent it. We want to allow my son for virtual classes only,” said a father, P. Sreekumar.

Krishna District Education Officer (DEO) M.V. Rajya Lakshmi said the attendance in the schools located in urban areas was good, compared to rural areas.

West Godavari DEO C.V. Renuka said the attendance percentage on the first day was good and opined that the strength of students would increase in the next few days.

Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) Secretary V. Ramakrishna said the BIE officials would visit the colleges and ensure cleanliness.