‘53% parents want schools to reopen, staff vaccinated’
MUMBAI: Several states in the country, including Maharashtra, recently decided to reopen schools. While parents and students are still anxious about this move, a survey of over 24,000 parents from around the country has highlighted how 53% of participating parents are willing to send their children to school. The survey also reveals that 74% of these parents feel that local administration should ensure the staff and teachers are vaccinated and rapid antigen test kits are made available at schools.
“In states where schools have opened in the last 30 days, the response has been mixed. In many private schools, physical attendance has been 50% at best. New Covid cases have been reported from Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Haryana, which has some parents worried,” said a report made public by Localcircles,
a community social media platform enabling citizens and small businesses to escalate issues for policy enforcement and interventions. The survey received over 47,000 responses from 24,000 parents residing in 378 districts of India.
“While 53% parents are in favour of re-opening of schools in August-september, 44% respondents also still maintain that schools should be conducted online until Covid cases are down to zero,” adds survey report. “International schools work with 40-50 students in one batch, whereas state board schools have anywhere between 60-70 students per division and in some cases, each grade has three to five divisions. Even if schools divide their batches into smaller groups, how will the teacher manage to teach all students?” asked Arundhati Chavan, president of Parent-teachers Association United Forum.