School attendance in Maharashtra almost triples in 3 weeks

NAGPUR: Since reopening on November 23, attendance in Maharashtra schools has almost tripled with figures now within touching distance of 11-lakh-mark. The steady climb from around 3 lakh students to today’s figures has happened even though schools in some high population density urban areas have not reopened yet.

Apart from this, some districts where schools are open have still not updated the attendance statistics in the online database.As more data is collated in the coming days, it’s clear that the attendance figures will rise sharply.
Wardha district has seen a stupendous 1700% jump in attendance since the reopening day. Speaking to TOI, district collector Vivek Bhimanwar said the steady rise in attendance is due to allaying fears of teachers and parents. “We had multiple discussions with the stakeholders and tried to understand what is in their mind. The best way to implement any government decision is to take stakeholders into confidence and include them as partners. If we try to force our way, then there is bound to be resistance,” said Bhimanwar.
Chandrapur district, which witnessed a 250% jump in attendance figures since the reopening, is a prime example of the psychological factor. Ulhas Narad, Chandrapur district education officer, said, “In the initial days, both students and parents were in wait-and-watch mode. As days went by, a certain comfort level grew in them after getting feedback from other students. So, this attendance figures will keep rising.”
Schools in Nagpur district, barring city, reopened on Monday.
Just over 56 lakh students are enrolled in Std 9-12 in entire state. However, schools in many high enrolment districts/cities have not got permission to reopen. Places like Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Pune (city), Nagpur (city) account for a huge chunk of enrolled students and local authorities have not allowed school reopening there. Keeping these places aside, around 28% of eligible students are attending schools, reveals data provided by the education department.
An education official, who did not wish to be identified, said, “I feel parents are getting worried without looking into the facts. It’s been three weeks since the schools reopened and we have not had any Covid cases reported. No school has shut down because dozens of students getting infected. Ample precautions are being taken by every school and children too are showing maturity.”