Virtually empty classrooms in Chandigarh schools

Very few students chose to attend schools which reopened for classes 9 to 12 after a gap of six months following the Covid-19 outbreak, with a few private institutes reporting zero attendance.

UT administrator and Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore also urged teachers to get themselves tested and asked schools to follow protocols.

As the ministry of home affairs ordered reopening of schools for senior students requiring “guidance” from teachers on various subjects, government institutes too received just 4% of the 25,000 odd students. Around 950 students were present in 93 government schools. Attendance, as a matter of fact, was higher in periphery areas of Chandigarh as compared to the city, education department officials said.

The scenario in schools

A round of the government schools revealed that no student had turned up at Government Model Senior Secondary School (GMSSS) Sector 32. Only one student attended class at GMSSS-35, two were present at GMSSS-20 and GMSSS-22 and three in GMSSS-33.

Around 19 Class 12 science students turned up at GMSSS-46.

Class 12 students from GMSSS-46, Mohammad Danish from Sector 45 and Aayush from Hallomajra, said they needed help with “difficult” portions of their subjects. “We had doubts in physics and chemistry and came to clear them,” they said, adding that around 10 students had been present in class.

About five Class 10 students were present at Sri Guru Gobind Singh Public School-35, while 10 students from Class 12 are expected to attend on Tuesday. Rohit Verma of Sector 56 said he had come to clear a few points in science and social studies, after which he would revert to online classes.

Strawberry Fields High School-26 and DAV Model School-15 confirmed zero attendance. Some including St Johns High School-26 and Bhavan Vidyalaya-27 are conducting online exams and will open in the first week of October.

A number of parents who had consented to their wards visiting school changed their minds at the last minute, said Reema Dewan, principal, Delhi Public School-40, where one child from Class 12 and four from Class 10 turned up.