PANAJI
Amid trepidation among a section of parents, teachers and students, most schools across the State were kept busy on Sunday gearing up to start face-to-face classes on Monday after an almost two-year Covid-induced break.
Thousand of excited students from classes 1 to 12 are set to enter classrooms after getting much used to online learning in the last two years.
Stationery shops and bookstalls in Panaji and other areas witnessed a rush of parents to buy stationery.
The school managements have sanitised schools with the help of parents associated with the parents-teachers associations (PTAs) and volunteers.
“We will welcome the students with diyas and by pouring flower petals on them,” said Vilas Satarkar Headmaster of Hedgewar school.
The school will start with 50 per cent of students on alternate days, said Satarkar.
The parents who have volunteered will monitor the sanitisation and social distancing in schools, said Satarkar.
He also said that as around 600 students will be there in school, the interval timing has been staggered for each division.
The school timings will be from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm for the first few days, he added.
Satarkar said the students will come to school in bal raths and KTC buses after some days. School managements have kept bal raths ready for transporting students, he added.
The schools have not insisted on uniforms after the Directorate of Education in a circular asked them not to do so.
The parents are enthusiastic about sending their children to school after a long break.
“My husband has repaired a bicycle of Mihir as he has to go to class. We had gone to school and checked all arrangements,” said Anjusha Amonkar, mother of Mihir.
Now I have to start the routine of dropping my child to school and then go to work, said Xavier, a government servant.
However, some teachers from few schools are not happy with the DoE decision to resume physical classes.
“Why was there a hurry to start schools when hardly a month of this academic year is remaining?” asked a teacher who didn’t want himself to be named.
As there is an alternate-day arrangement, each student will hardly attend classes for less than 12 days in this period. So for these 15 days why to burden parents to buy stationery and other items? questioned the teacher.
The Director of Education has told the schools to give timing concessions for students in the initial days.
Meanwhile, the first day will see teachers and students observing the ‘Matribhasha Divas’, as per the directions issued by DoE.
