Parents want Telangana government to rethink on decision to reopen schools

Hyderabad: After the announcement of the State government for reopening physical and online classes from July 1 with full preparedness, the parents demanded the government to reconsider its decision due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Also, they are apprehensive that schools will demand the entire fee with a hike. They suspect like previously, the schools were reopened on February 1 for one month to just collect a complete fee from students and subsequently, turned to online classes. They are worried that the same might repeat to benefit the educational institutions risking the children lives.

Venkat, a parent whose children are in class 5 and class 8 expressed his disappointment with the government's decision to reopen the schools. He said, in the present situation, physical distance in private schools or public schools, sanitation and following rules like wearing a mask is difficult for children. Therefore, the government should take some more time to conduct physical classes and discuss with the parent committees before taking a decision on re-opening the schools by assessing the situation from time to time.

Jilted by the reopening announcement, The Hyderabad School parents' Association (HSPA) pointed out medical experts have warned the country about the third wave which will have an impact in six to eight weeks and while asking to wait for the vaccination programme to reach students. "We should not send our children to school this decision is only and only to generate fees and no school will assure for safety of our children same like it happened in February. With several students testing Covid-19 positive during the month of March should not be forgotten." said K Anil, whose ward is in class 8.

Lauding the governments' decision, the school management said that before the third wave occurs in the month of October, the schools can bridge the learning gap over three months for students. "Though in 10 days, it would be hard to sanitize schools, recruit staff for sanitation and sanitize the entire campus and immediately begin the necessary repairs, it would take a minimum of 1 month to complete the work. School buses need to go for fitness checkup at RTO as well." said Telangana Recognized school managements association (TRSMA) state president Yadagiri Shekhar Rao. Further, he adds the schools need to assure the parents that the school is safe and give counselling to both the students and parents.