“We like to meet in person daily rather than sitting at our homes attending online classes,” said the frontbenchers in Class V at Government Higher Secondary School, Chowara, near Aluva, as they met each other after a long gap of over one-and-a-half years, on Monday morning.
Their smiles were hidden behind their masks as they turned eloquent when asked about the precautions to be taken inside the classroom. “We have to sit at a distance from each other and not share anything with others,” they said as their class teacher distributed chocolates on the first day of the school reopening.
“Students will come in two batches a week as part of the bio-bubble model proposed by the Education Department. We have divided the 38 students in two divisions of Class 5 into two batches of 19 children each. Today, 13 of the 19 in the first batch came to school,” said the teacher.
The school, ravaged by the raging waters in the 2018 deluge, wore a festive look as its premises were decorated with balloons and colourful festoons. Teachers, members of the staff and the parent-teacher association along with elected representatives were busy making arrangements for a smooth return to the physical mode of teaching and learning.
“A section of the parents brought their children in their own vehicles in the morning while some students opted for public transport. Some children in the higher secondary section came on their bicycles,” said T.V. Jaljakumari, Principal of the higher secondary section. “Of the 27 students in the first batch in the science stream, 25 students attended while 21 of the 28 students in the first batch of the commerce stream turned up on the first day,” she said.
Parents raised concerns about the safety of their children amidst the pandemic situation. However, a majority of them said they would like to send their children to school as the face-to-face mode was better than the digital sessions. “We have also told our children to maintain physical distancing on the campus,” they said.
