Hyderabad: Few students turn up at Govt and Pvt schools in Hyderabad due to fear of COVID-19
Hyderabad: The fear of getting infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) seems to be running high among parents as attendance in some of the schools which have reopened in the city two days after educational institutions were allowed to partially reopen under the Centre’s Unlock 4.0 guidelines.
With schools not arranging any transport facilities in view of COVID-19 guidelines, only those students who were able to manage transport on their own went to schools. Students have been allowed to go to school voluntarily with social distancing being a major factor, and with consent letters from their parents.
It has also been observed that while some educational institutions are open now, most of the schools are yet to reopen; they say that there is no clarity from the state government.
When this reporter visited a handful of schools in Abids, King Koti and Chaderghat, it was seen that things are far from returning back to normalcy.
For example, the GK Kabra School at Ramkot has asked its students not to come in uniform, and directed students to attend classes while wearing face masks apart from following other safety protocols. The St. Joseph’s Public School at King Koti, which follows the CBSE syllabus, reopened and is organising classes voluntarily after collecting consent forms from parents which clearly state that travel and risk factors will be their responsibility and not of the school.
Moreover, the St. Joseph’s High school at Abids, St. Georges Grammar School at Abids, and Ideal School near the Old MLA Quarters have all reduced seating capacity and are also sanitizing their premises on a daily basis (as students from all classes are not allowed to attend). The schools were open from morning 9:30 till 12 pm and there was no recess.
A school teacher from a private St. Philip’s High School in King Koti, on condition of anonymity said, “Due to lack of clarity from the Telangana State government many schools in the state are not opting for reopening.”
A parent of a class 9 student who came to drop their children to the school said, “We have no internet connection and smartphones. Though the school management were forcing us to purchase one, we can’t afford it as I lost my job due to the lockdown and am still looking for employment. That is the reason we are sending our children to school. At least they will learn something”.
However, corporate schools such as the Hyderabad International School in Chaderghat, Allen High School in Ram Koti and Sadhu Vaswani International School, when enquired, were still not organising in-person classes. Parents who are facing problems have been told that their child can come to school once a week to clear doubts as the most of the teaching is being done through online classes.
Apart from that, Cambridge High School in Badichowdi the management has asked the parents not to give lunch boxes or any sought of food to students as they are coming to school for only a few hours. Even teachers and administration staff at government schools are only visiting schools on and off, or about thrice in a week, as they are scared of getting infected with COVID-19.
The Hyderabad District Education Department said that only teachers are coming to government schools for now, since educational institutions reopened, meaning that parents are still scared, or perhaps unaware that classes have begun.