THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even while supporting the reopening of schools in a phased manner from November 1, the huge concern of parents over Covid spread has now prompted unaided school managements to go for a re-think on permitting students of lower classes to come to the campus in the initial stages.
The Council of CBSE Schools, Kerala (CSSK) representing over 800 schools affiliated to the national board has urged the state government to allow member schools to restart offline classes in a staggered manner. It has suggested that in the first few weeks, classes could start for senior secondary and secondary students. This could subsequently be extended to middle-level classes and finally to the primary section if the Covid situation further improves.
In the memorandum to the government, it has been pointed out that a large number of parents has been voicing their apprehension over sending their wards from the protection of their homes to places that could pose huge health hazards. The parents have cited the high infection ratio that still prevails in many parts of the state as the main reason for their alarm.
According to Indira Rajan, secretary general of National Council of CBSE Schools (the apex body of CSSK), the state government's decision on reopening schools would surely help address the mental stress and anxiety that children have developed during the pandemic-induced shutdown. "However, the huge concern of parents also needs to be addressed as children of lower classes may tend to flout Covid protocol even if all precautions are adopted by institutions," she reminded.
The unaided school managements have decided to make parental consent mandatory for students to attend school-based classes. An online survey by a Thrissur-based unaided school had found that over 75% parents, most of them of children in lower classes, were not willing to send their wards to
schools.
Other suggestions
Private school managements are also of the view that it would not be wise to shut down the online mode of instruction completely once offline classes resume. While a system that blends both online and offline classes have been suggested for higher classes, online classes alone have been recommended for classes from 1 to 7 at least till the Covid test positivity rate comes down below 5%.
Other demands of aided school managements include extending the October 20 deadline for obtaining road-worthiness certificate for school buses as most of the buses have not been running for over the past year and a half. The huge disparity in road tax imposed on buses plying for unaided schools vis-a-vis government and aided schools has also irked the managements. They have also called for scrapping of the discriminatory taxation policy and also sought waiver of tax arrears during the pandemic period.