HYDERABAD: For thousands of students who turned up to attend physical classes on Wednesday as schools reopened after an 18-month closure due to Covid-19 pandemic, the day seemed to be exciting. Students were seen taking selfies and catching up with friends after a long gap on the school premises.
School education principal secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania, who was on a visit to check on the preparations for reopening of schools and how the day started, told this correspondent, “Schools started functioning with all Covid-19 precautions in place.”
“There has been some confusion among parents about the reopening but we are ensuring that all of them receive messages about the reopening through their parents’ WhatsApp groups,” he said.
“Around 25 per cent of attendance was reported today, which is a good sign for day one. Typically, even after vacations, attendance starts low but picks up as the days go by,” he said.
According to Hyderabad district education officer R. Rohini, “Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy visited several schools since morning while Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan visited the Raj Bhavan School. Overall, this is a positive development, to see parents willing to send their children to schools.”
S. Narender Yadav, head master, Government High School, Musheerabad, said, “A total of 91 students out of 536 enrolled here attended classes today. In this school, we have around 45 students who stay in the BC hostel, and as hostels are not yet open, those students are absent. For those who are not able to come, there are online classes.”
Several parents came to the school to drop their children and enquired about the preparedness, he said. “Students are happy as they are meeting their classmates. The vaccination centre at this school was shifted on our request.”
Deepthi and Kavya (names changed), students of ninth class in a government-run school, who were busy taking selfies during the recess, said they were happy to meet their friends and teachers. “It is as if life is starting to get back to how it was,” Kavya said.
