Heads for reopening schools, colleges in a graded manner

Ajay Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 7

Wary of students’ health and mounting Covid-19 cases, the state government on Wednesday announced to extend the closure of educational institutions till April 30.

However, the decision hasn’t gone down well with private school and college heads. Students who have been preparing for examinations also apparently expressed their resentment to the decision.

While principals demanded reopening of colleges and schools in a graded manner, students who have got accustomed to attending online classes at home also want to attend classes offline.

Post the announcement to continue with the virtual classes, Manhar Arora, Principal, St Soldier College, said this was the most crucial time for students to attend regular classes.

“Owing to the shutdown of colleges, the examination process has already been delayed. Even before the imposition of restrictions last month, exams were being undertaken in colleges. Now, students, who are left with one or two exams are at the receiving end. Students coming from distant cities will have to make arrangements for their stay. Therefore, the state government needs to opt for a systematic approach for educational institutions. Considering all precautionary measures being adopted, schools and colleges can be reopened with 50 per cent capacity,” said Manhar, who further mentioned that his college suffered a loss of nearly Rs3-4 crore during the pandemic.

Amid a slew of protests against private schools, school authorities also claimed to have gone out of funds. Shortage of funds has led them to put more cuts on salaries of the staff and teaches.

Rajeev Paliwal, Principal, Innocent Hearts School, said: “The board examinations are approaching next month, however, schools are yet to conduct the practical examinations. If schools will remain closed, the delay in practical exams will put an extra burden on teachers and students. Only students from Classes IX to XII should be allowed to attend classes in a phased manner.”

Covid and the lockdown has reportedly affected the learning capacity of students. Teachers find it difficult to develop the same concentration power among students. “Offline classes are comparatively better than virtual classes. Instead of shutting down colleges for students, the college managements should be told to exercise strict safety measures,” said Jasmeet Singh, a BCom student at DAV College.

“There is no regularity in online classes. At college, at least were get to attend 3-4 lectures, but the online classes has increased the dependency on online notes as compared to books,” said Varjit Kaur & Ramandeep Kaur, members of Punjab Students Union.

“The delay in board exams is only diverting our attention from competitive exams,” said Bhavuk Singh, a Class 12 student preparing for JEE.