Schools in Tamil Nadu's Tiruchy district reopen to over 90 per cent attendance, says the state education department

As schools reopened across the state on Wednesday, brisk attendance was recorded at various government and private schools in the Tiruchy district. The government schools in the district recorded as high as 90 per cent attendance turnout, according to the education department.

Several safety precautions were undertaken in different schools. Students were strictly enforced to wear masks at all times, temperature checks were conducted by the teachers as they entered the schools and sanitizer dispensers were kept in different locations. While students, in general, were spotted enthusiastically coming to schools at various institutions, many private schools had a set of anxious parents waiting near the gates as they were unsure about how the schools would operate and whether their wards would be safe from contracting the virus.

"We are very happy to be back to school. It was very difficult being at home and learning through online classes. Coming back to school gives us an opportunity to meet our friends, teachers and also learn better," said Nandhini, a Class 10 student. Vinoth, parent of Karthik, a class 12 student at a private school in Tiruchy said, "We are really worried about our wards safety. We have sent my ward to school today as he kept insisting and going back as he is tired of the online classes. At the end of the day, we will talk to him about how the experience was and whether he felt safe. We will take a call to continue sending him or returning to online classes based on his feedback."

In the Tiruchy district, as many as 523 government schools re-opened for students of Class 9 to Class 12. With the government instructing the schools to maintain a limited number of students in each classroom, the schools have created a system under which the strength does not exceed 25.

In higher secondary schools, which have only Class 11 and Class 12 students, most of the schools have directed the students to come on all working days as they have limited strength and enough infrastructure to accommodate all students. In schools that have students from Class 9 to Class 12, the 10th and 12th students are asked to be present on all days, whereas class 9 and 11 students are directed to come every alternative day.

An official from the education department said, "We are monitoring the situation in all the schools. There is no compulsion for students to arrive at schools and attend them. We are creating necessary infrastructures to make sure no students who wish to attend classes face any difficulties. The reopening of schools has taken-off to a good start in the Tiruchy district."

The revenue department along with the education department also conducted surprise inspections in several schools across the districts to review the situation on the ground. The officials who inspected the schools, made sure necessary social distancing norms were maintained and proper sanitation facilities were created On the other hand, many private schools had also halted the online classes as it would be difficult to manage both of them at the same time.

"We cannot conduct both physical and online classes at the same time. Although there is no compulsion, the majority of the students have returned. Few who have not come back are either due to fear of contracting the virus or their parents relocation to different places. Based on how the situation pans out in the next couple of days, we are looking to create a system in which we will be able to conduct online classes for at least 1 hour for each subject every day. But for now, we have stopped online classes and are focused only on conducting physical classes," said, Principal of a private CBSE school from Tiruchy.

Explaining the precautions taken in the classes, CJ Chacko, Principal of Samadh School said," Our school had an attendance turnout of 85 per cent students. Various explanatory placards have been put up in different places across the campus and each classroom has only 20-24 students. Students are advised to wear masks at all times and the classes are being conducted only for half-day. The students are happy to be back to classrooms."