Parents divided over the reopening of schools in Tamil Nadu from February 1

Parents of school students in Tamil Nadu seem to be divided on reopening of schools on February 1 with one section expressing apprehension over it while the other is hailing the government's decision.

Sudhirbabu, father of a Class 9 student of a private school at Ashok Nagar, Chennai while speaking to IANS said, "These days several people are turning positive but they are not taking the tests and treating themselves with medicines for cold and fever and getting it reduced. In such a situation, how can we send our children to school?"

There are also parents who disagree with the decision of the government to open schools for primary classes students as well.

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Sudhamani, the mother of a Class 3 student at Madurai, said, "Am not able to decide whether to send my daughter to school or not. The Government should have spared the small children as you cannot expect them to maintain social distancing or wear masks in schools. With so many Covid cases still being reported, I am really worried."

Tamil Nadu Private School teachers association, Erode district secretary, Velmurugan while speaking to IANS said that the government is reopening schools based on a recommendation from medical doctors. Doctors will not give recommendations to the government unless they are confident that the spread will be either limited or not there.

Meanwhile, there is confusion on whether to commence classes only offline or to provide an option of online classes along with offline classes. However, the teacher's associations said that the teachers would be burdened heavily if both the offline and online classes are held together.

However, some parents are happy that the schools are reopening. Muthumani G, mother of a Class 12 student at Salem said, "I am happy that the classes are commencing for Class 12 students. My son is always into tab and laptop and whenever we ask him, he will speak about the syllabus and classes but in reality, he is making use of this opportunity and playing games. With schools reopening he will have to attend classes compulsorily and this is a good sign. He has also taken one dose of the vaccine and I am not worried."