Government schools better off than private ones on attendance scale

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 12

Days after reopening of schools across the state for Class V-VII students, turnout in private schools remains dismal. The government schools had implemented the reopening orders as soon as these were issued, while most private schools chose to wait for parental consent before calling students to attend classes.

As of today, private schools in the city are getting 10-12 per cent attendance in Class V to Class VIII. Dr Anita Bhalla, secretary of Sahodaya Schools and Principal, Bhavans’ SL School, said the low turnout was due to multiple reasons. "The extreme cold weather conditions and the suspicions regarding pandemic are the main reasons for low attendance in middle classes. Most parents are waiting till Lohri to send their wards as there could be change in weather after Lohri.”

The government schools, too, fall in same bracket with almost 10 per cent attendance, mostly from Class VIII onwards. Keshav Kohli, teacher, from Government School, Hathi Gate, said the attendance may increase in the coming days as students will get accustomed to school environment. "We have got almost 30 per cent attendance over the past couple of days, as students are happy to come to classrooms and resume offline classes," he said.

Meanwhile, schools are carrying out online classes alternately as well to ensure that students do not miss out on anything.