As schools restart for nth time in Ggm, kids, teachers hope this is 'end of it all'

Gurugram: With schools in the city shutting down and reopening repeatedly over the last two years or so — most of the time because of the pandemic and other times because of the National Capital Region's hazardous air pollution, as Gurugram schools reopened again on Tuesday for students of Classes 10 to 12, both students and teachers heaved a sigh of relief — hoping that they would not have to endure yet another school shutdown in the near future.

Hundreds of students in government and private schools attended classes after more than one and half months of shutdown — which began as a response to the dangerous air pollution levels but was extended in light of the Omicron wave. However, compared to government schools, attendance in private schools remained low.

A lot of this can be attributed to most private schools mandating that children must be vaccinated with at least one dose before being allowed to enter the campus. Also, many chose to send their kids to school in their own vehicles, leaving many others out who rely on school buses. In addition, with the third wave yet to subside, schools have not required 100 per cent attendance.

Most private schools, however, expressed optimism that in the coming days the attendance of students will rise gradually.

"It will take some time to adjust to the new normal but we hope that now there will be no full stop to imparting holistic education processes to our students. These two years have been tough for students, teachers and also other staff of private schools. We now hope and pray that this is the end of it all and we can start our education process afresh," said a teacher of a private school who requested her name to be anonymous.

Meanwhile, Shyam Dev, a Class 10 student in a government school said, "I am happy to come back and meet my friends. I hope that now my classes do not stop due to COVID-19."

Parents, teachers, educationists and schools have for a long time now raised alarm about the adverse consequences of the continued school closure and have repeatedly called for physical classes to be restarted. While the older classes have been allowed for the time being, younger children — most affected by the closure — have not been given any sign as to when they return to their schools.

Delhi yet to take a call

Meanwhile, the Capital is yet to take a call on reopening physical classes with the Delhi Disaster Management Authority firmly maintaining that they are taking appropriate precautions.

While the Delhi government has made its position clear — even recommending to the DDMA that schools be reopened, the L-G led DDMA did not agree. Parents, schools and teachers have now asked the DDMA to reconsider this call and even asked on what basis they were extending the closure.

The next meeting of the DDMA is expected to discuss this issue later this week.