GUWAHATI, Sept 21 - With strict COVID-19 guidelines in place, the gates of schools and colleges were reopened today for students after a gap of nearly six months. With a mixed feeling of thrill and apprehension, students of classes IX and XII attended their classes in small batches, mostly in government institutions. Most of the private academic institutions adopted a wait-and-watch approach before starting the classes physically, whereas some of them argued that the parents of their students preferred regular online classes over offline sessions.
On the other hand, a better attendance was reported in many schools and colleges of rural areas of Assam, compared to the urban centres, where better online connectivity is available. After the Centre�s nod to opening of schools and colleges in a partial manner for higher classes, the State government had allowed a staggered reopening of schools purely on voluntary basis for students of classes IX to XII. The students need to carry written consents of their parents for attending the classes.
The State government prepared an extensive standard operating procedure (SOP) for the next 15 days to maintain social distancing and follow other precautions against the viral infection. The guidelines will be reviewed after 15 days and modified, if needed.
Even if the attendance in schools and colleges remained quite low on the first day of reopening, heads of some of the academic institutions hoped that more students would turn up in the following days.
�Eighteen class XII students turned up today in the first half whereas only three came in the second half. As regular online classes are on, the attendance was on expected lines. However, we are receiving queries for the class XI sessions as newly enrolled students want to come to college and get introduced to their teachers. Out of nearly 400 students, we are expecting an attendance of 100,� Dr Homeshwar Kalita, principal of Gauhati Commerce College said.
The Cotton University did not resume the classes from today as it had an �effective online class system� in place.
�Most of the private schools and colleges across Assam, either did not resume the classes, or the attendance was quite negligible. As it was individual decision for each school and college to take, most of them adopted a wait-and-watch policy,� said Pankaj Das, president of the All Assam Private Schools Association, which has 150 schools under its banner.
Many such schools having online exams scheduled for this week are likely to resume physical classes by next week. On the other hand, some other schools, after taking feedback from parents, have decided to continue with the online classes, completely shunning the idea of classroom sessions for the time being.
Situation in some places of rural Assam was, however, different. �Out of 69 students of class IX, 50 turned up today for the classes, which were conducted in three batches. We have been receiving ample phone calls from students, who are willing to come to the school,� said a teacher of Kakopathar Hindi High School, Tinsukia.
The consent letter from the parents, however, created some resentment at different levels, as it was considered as one of the reasons of apprehension among parents.
In Mahadev Agarwalla HS School, Mariani, only four students of class IX and one student of class XII turned up today. On the other hand, in Jungle Block High School, Mariani, out of 70 students, only three girls came to attend the classes.
�There is a general apprehension among the parents with regard to a written consent from their end. At many places, the question is being raised as to why the only the parents, and not the school authorities are taking the responsibility of the students in the present crisis situation,� a teacher from the area commented.
Similar concerns were raised by a number of parents in Guwahati and other parts of Assam as well.
