As schools prepare to reopen, uncertainty looming over decision a big blow to planning

New Delhi: While the Centre has allowed schools to reopen from October 15, the Delhi government has ruled out the reopening of the schools till at least the end of the month. But this has not stopped schools in the National Capital Region from revamping their infrastructure and preparing their premises to comply with COVID-19 norms so that students can have a safe environment when they do reopen.

While schools in Delhi remain closed for the time being, some in NCR districts outside the Capital have decided to reopen and are busy preparing an "effective" timeline for completing the syllabus.

"The shift in the mindset of students, teachers and non-teaching staff is the primary impact of repeated extensions in school reopening. We will be fully supportive of the government's decision, but assertiveness is needed amid these new guidelines and notifications," Principal, Delhi Public School, Sangeeta Hajela, said.

"The school management understands the major transition young minds will be going through with the amalgamation of online-offline studies and therefore, needs a certain timeline to prepare infrastructure and teaching staff accordingly," Hajela said.

Pro-vice chairperson, Pacific World School, Nidhi Bansal, said that these are daunting times for students and teachers, "as they were accustomed to classroom learning. In a matter of a few days, the entire framework shifted its base to virtual learning platforms".

"The authorities have issued guidelines. We have revamped infrastructure and prepared our staff, but a definitive timeline is a must to get things going. It is only creating an atmosphere of confusion, which is affecting the syllabus and the academic calendar planning," Bansal said.

Principal, Modern Public School, Alka Kapur, said that according to a survey that "we have conducted, approximately 98 per cent of parents are not willing to send their children to schools yet, fearing that they would contract COVID-19".

To compensate for the commotion and chaos the pandemic has caused, the syllabus has been reduced by 30 per cent. This will significantly reduce the pressure on students and would allow teachers to take their time and teach important concepts in detail, she said.

"Virtual learning has been a drastic transformation for every student and teacher. Teachers have to strategise and rework on the already laid syllabus planning. The reopening announcement has been made for students of higher classes and they need more attention and preparation through pre-board exams. They need to understand a particular section's weightage pattern and question-paper solving," Principal, Delhi International School, Priyanka

Barara said.

These activities are essential and can be carried out in schools post-reopening, but "the repeated extensions are delaying plans and causing the school management to revisit and reconsider its academic calendar plans to not lose time in hand", she said.

Pallavi Upadhyaya, Principal, DPS Ghaziabad, believes that reopening schools has to be a gradual process because of multiple factors. "Major attention from the teaching staff has to be on not letting apprehension get in their way, but the repeated extensions are doing that," she said.