Parents who put their children on school buses after ensuring they had bottles of sanitizer with them were seen across Delhi-NCR as schools geared up to receive students with the resumption of offline classes from Friday after more than two years. While many schools reopened on Friday, several others plan to resume offline classes for all classes from Monday.
Sudha Acharya, the chairman of the National Progressive Schools’ Conference (NPSC), which has more than 120 private schools as members, said students were eagerly awaiting this day. “After two years, the schools are reopening and the students were excited to return,” she said.
Acharya is the Principal of ITL Public School, Dwarka. At her school, teachers held a special prayer meeting for students. “Teachers had prepared special performances for students and it’s like a festival today. Yesterday we said goodbye to the students of class 12. At 11:00 we will tune in to the Prime Minister’s Pariksha Pe Charcha,’ she said. The modern public school, Shalimar Bagh, reopened Friday for kindergarten classes only, while students of all other classes will be called from Monday.
“Today, only preschoolers came to school to take offline classes. From Monday we will open for all students from kindergarten to class 12. We want to make the reopening process as comfortable as possible for students, parents and teachers. “A lot has changed in these two years and we are responding to that. We are prepared to resume classes in these ‘new normal’ times, while also prioritizing personal learning as students have missed that the most,” said school principal Alka Kapur. According to Nidhi Bansal, pro vice president, Pacific World School, measures have been taken to maintain proper cleanliness and hygiene.
“Our focus is to put kids at ease and let them talk about their problems and emotional or mental swamps that the pandemic had on kids and solve them in the best way possible,” she said. Schools across the country were closed in 2020 before a nationwide lockdown in March to contain the spread of COVID-19. Schools in several states reopened shortly before the second wave in April 2021, but were forced to close shortly after.
Schools reopened but had to be closed in Delhi due to alarming levels of pollution. Although they reopened in phases, the hybrid mode of classes – online and offline – became the popular approach and students were only allowed to take classes in schools with parental permission. Shubhi Soni, Head of The Shri Ram Wonder Years, Rohini, said: “Our school is delighted to welcome our bundles of joy to the property as it will open for offline education from April 4. The school is colorfully decorated to welcome the students recharge with positive energy and embrace them in the brick and mortar scenario, she said.
“There will also be regular temperature checks on children to minimize the risk of COVID-19. A full-time nurse has been trained and appointed to oversee compliance with all standards… We are re-opening the school in phases to slowly settle the children into a new environment. “Starting with bonding time classes, children will be asked to come to the slots for a short period of time to introduce them to the school environment, peers and teachers,” Soni said.
Anshu Mittal, the principal of MRG School, Rohini, said they are delighted to welcome our students back to offline classes after a two-year hiatus. “Several welcome activities have been organized to make students and teachers feel at ease at school.
“Ice-breaking exercises are planned to build a happy friendship between students and teachers to eradicate the disconnection they faced during the pandemic period. Peer interactions will also be held to encourage bonding between the students and the repartee,” she said. However, parents complained that transportation was an issue. A parent of a fifth-grade student of Shri Ram Global School in Noida Extension said that the first day was somewhat chaotic, especially for the parents as some school buses were delayed and they received multiple messages about the delay.
“The bus was almost 30 minutes late and I ended up being late for work,” she said. However, she welcomed the resumption of offline classes and said it would be a welcome shift for the students. “My son was studying in Nagpur before and today is his first day at his new school. He has been taking online classes at this school for the past year.
“He will meet his friends. Students had become familiar with the idea of online classes, but this will be a good shift for them because they will get back into a good routine,” the parent said.
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