The much-speculated question regarding the opening of schools was doing rounds among parent’s and teacher’s chat groups – will the schools be re-opened or not, and above all, which all classes will be asked to attend now. And Lo behold! The Cabinet’s decision has left everyone bewildered, especially since a week before (1st November to 7th November) holidays were declared citing that a break was needed to ‘break the Covid Chain’. Suddenly what prompted the Government to take a U-Turn and decide to open School for all. The statement issued today said, “It was decided in the meeting to open schools for students of class 3rd to 7th standard with effect from 10th November 2021 and for students of 1st and 2nd standards from 15th of November this year.”
And along with this another notable announcement was, “It was decided to resume transport buses on full capacity instead of earlier 50 per cent norms.”
This raises quite a few pertinent. School in Shimla and in major other districts of Himachal, following the winter closing timings, are at the end of their academic session. Most children are preparing for their final exams and revisions are on. With the previous Covid relaxation norms, only students of classes 8 and above were going to school, rest all were attending online classes.
This sudden decision of the Cabinet, with no planning or time given to the parents and school management has literally left everyone perplexed. The teachers are trying to manage their own schedules as students have to be taught offline as well as online. With this new arrangement and with different dates and timings, juggling between classes will again be cumbersome to all.
On the other hand, parents are worried as they face a double-edged sword – the chilly winter mornings means that children have to start early to head to school. With almost a two-year break, getting into routines is difficult, and especially calling children now as the winter season begins is a tough call. The recent rise in viral infections due to sudden drop in temperatures was another cause of concern. Second, the small size of uniforms as kids have grown considerably in the last two years. Spending considerable amounts at the end of an academic session, with an upcoming long winter break is a tough decision for parents and a dent on their pockets with rising price of essentials.
Another important issue is that for a short period of time parents need to make travel arrangements for their wards. Those living in neighbouring vicinities can still manage by walking to school but, many who take the buses and taxis will face problems. To note, it even contradicts the Covid SOPs issued by respect District Commissioners that crowds and large gathering should still be avoided. So when the morning school and office rush begins, is the government ready to face the repercussions, or is this going to be a stop-gap arrangement.
The big question – are parents ready to send their children, especially the younger lot?
