Schools see thin attendance in Khammam district

Khammam: After a gap of one-and-a-half years, students from primary section to 10th class thronged schools on the first day across Khammam district on Wednesday.

According to sources, only 29,224 out of 83,373 students' attendance was registered in government schools across the district. Only 56,00 out 15,000 attended the school in Bhadradri. Khammam government schools registered 35% attendance whereas Bhadradri registered only 25%.

In the meantime, the teachers in all government schools made sure to check Covid tests on all students and proper precautions and safety norms of Sovid-19 were maintained. The teachers made sitting arrangements for the students keeping social distancing in mind. All the government schools in the districts are said to have been sanitised before their resumption.

Sources suggest that the low turnout of students might be due to fear among parents in the wake of pandemic. The attendance percentage in private schools is believed to be less than 10%.

Kothagudem District Education Officer E Somasekhar Sharma said that the first day was peaceful without any untoward incidents. He also said that the school managements provided mid-day meals to the students in all schools in the district. He added that 99% of teacher's attendance was registered on Wednesday.

Simlarly, Khammam District Education Officer S Yadaiah said that due to rains, not many students turned up and that the attendance would improve in the coming days. He added that many parents were not willing to send their kids to schools due to fear of Covid-19 and were preferring only online classes.

To encourage students to attend the school, District Education officer of Bhadradri -Kothagudem ensured that schools were well decorated with balloons and mango leaves, making the first day one of its kind. The teachers engaged in several cultural activities with the students and some teachers welcomed the students by showering flowers on them.

A student of seventh class K Ramadas said that he was very happy to attend school after a long gap. He added that he was thrilled to his school and teachers. P Pallavi, a Class 6 student, said that she had suffered a lot during the online classes as she could not understand anything and added that she can now meet her friends in school.