PANAJI
Schools in Goa were on Saturday permitted to recommence physical classes for standard X and XII but majority of students expectedly cold-shouldered the reopening and stayed away.
Most schools that did open on Saturday, recorded less than 50 percent attendance, an education department official said.
The official however added that attendance is expected to improve from Monday.
Many schools however did not exercise the option of calling students on Saturday and are hoping to start from Monday.
Some schools are being cautious and are calling students once every third day by splitting the roster into three or designating 2 week days for each division.
The 2020-21 academic year failed to kick-off normally in June but began in mid-july in the online mode due to the pandemic.
Faculty and students are expected to continue to fall back on the online mode for some more time with a new wave of infections sweeping across the country and the globe.
The government’s decision to reopen schools and higher secondary schools evoked poor response in Mapusa.
Although some schools registered reasonably good attendance but these were outnumbered by schools where the attendance was in single digits.
Only three students of Class X came for the classes in St Mary’s High School, a reputed girl’s school in Mapusa, while just 14 attended classes in St Britto’s High School, a reputed boy’s school.
Several schools in the port town reopened and the students were seen going to schools amid strict safety measures like use of hand sanitisers, physical distancing, face masks and being thermally checked in the school premises.
School managements also appealed to students to strictly follow SOPs to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.
In Porvorim and surrounding areas, students of Stds 10 and 12 returned to classes after a gap of nearly nine months, but the attendance at most schools was poor on Saturday.
When contacted, heads at LD Samant Memorial High School, Holy Family High School, Sanjay School and Parulekar HSS told The Goan that SOPs were followed before the start of classes
