TN schools, HEIs reopen; students happy to be back in classrooms
With trepidation and some excitement too, thousands of students returned to their classrooms to face a new COVID reality of masks and socially distanced camaraderie as schools and Higher Education Institutes (HEI) reopened across the State on Wednesday.
“More than 90% attendance was reported on Day 1. We followed all SOPs to ensure the students’ safety and also ensured that all teachers were vaccinated,” RC Saraswathi, headmistress, Government Girls HSS in Ashok Nagar, told DT Next.
She said only 20 students were allowed into the classrooms.
While school management, including private institutions have ensured that all teaching staff and vice chacellors in colleges have got at least one vaccine shot, immunisation drives are on in colleges to ensure students get inoculated. Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Association president PK Ilamaran, also a teacher in a government high school in Kodungaiyur, said that apart from strictly adopting SOPs, counselling was provided to students to allay fears of the pandemic.
School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi also conducted a surprise inspection at a few government schools in the city when he reiterated that parents can send their wards to schools without fear. Inspecting Anna University campus, Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi said health camps have been organised in all colleges so that students can be vaccinated. “Students, who do not want to attend classes, can attend online sessions to be held daily,” he added.
Aarti, flowers and sweets! Teachers from across the State didn’t leave any stone unturned to pep up young spirits as students of classes 9 to 12 got back to schools after a gap of more than a year on Wednesday. All government, government-aided, private schools and colleges reopened after a gap of 17 months after they were shut down in March 2020 after the pandemic influenza cases emerged.
Some of the institution heads DT Next spoke to welcomed the reopening saying the decision was required keeping in mind the interest of students’ education and psychological well-being. The mood was palpable on the ground, with pictures and reports of teachers bonding with students emerging from all the districts on the day.
The government school teachers in Kancheepuram welcomed the students with aarti and sweets on reopening day. Students couldn’t hide their glee even behind masks even as the teachers ensured that social distancing is maintained on campus.
Over 75K attend schools in Vellore dist
Education officials in Vellore said a total of 75,750 students of government, government-aided, matric and CBSE schools attended classes on Wednesday. Vellore has 73 government high schools, 84 government higher secondary schools, 91 matriculation and 33 CBSE schools.
Some schools welcomed students by showering them with rose petals and sprinkling sandal water. Anganwadis, which were also opened on the day, were inspected by the district officials who specially checked the quality and quantity of food being served to the children.
Red carpet welcome in Erode school
A government school in Erode district accorded a red carpet welcome to its students on Wednesday. Students studying from classes 9 to 12 at Karungalpalayam Government Girls HSS walked on the red carpet in a ‘star welcome’ on their day one.
“Though not mandatory, more than 85 per cent of students out of 1.09 lakh studying in classes 9 to 12 in government, aided and private schools came to school in Erode district on Wednesday,” said a senior official of the education department.
In Coimbatore, a majority of schools resumed classes from IX to XII, while others commenced classes only for class ten and plus-two and decided to start classes for the other sections in the coming days.
Students stick to school uniform
Though students were allowed to wear civil dresses, most of the students were found to be in their respective school uniforms in Tiruchy. The school officials ensured the students wore compulsory masks and allowed only two students to use one bench.
90% attendance in Madurai
According to Madurai Chief Educational Officer, R Swaminathan, almost 90 per cent of students from a total of 534 schools including government and aided across Madurai district attended their classes on day one.
The district has a total student strength of 1,65,684. The rest of the students are mostly hostellers, who are expected to attend soon, he said.