Back to school? Many parents in Telangana still unsure

HYDERABAD: With schools set to reopen on September 1, many parents are still unsure about sending their wards back to school. However, fear of further loss in academics and changes in social behaviour are likely to see a higher number of parents take the risk this time, as compared to January when the government had opened schools for a brief period.
In fact, when TOI ran a poll earlier this year, an overwhelming 90% parents voted against physical classes.Only 10% said that they were willing to make the shift. In comparison, on Monday, even as 70% parents voted for continuation of online classes, 30% said that they were ready to send their children to school, for various reasons.

“My daughter is an introvert. She used to speak only to limited set of people in earlier classes. She improved quite a bit in class 6-7 . But from class 8 she has been attending online classes due to which it has been difficult for her to gain all social knowledge. I believe she needs more exposure and, therefore, I am ready to send her back to school,” said Sai Prabhakar.
In most cases, it is the parents of students in higher classes who are willing to go with the government’s move. While concerns over the kids taking ill — Covid-19, dengue, malaria — continue to haunt them, they fear the children might fall behind if they continue to study from home.
“Not just Covid-19, this is also the season for other diseases. While that is a worry, my son is in class 11 and he feels he will miss out on academics if he does not attend physical classes. So, I think he will start going to school once it reopens,” said Anu M. She has, however, decided not to send her daughter — in class 8 — to school just yet.
On their part, school managements say they are expecting the numbers to increase subsequently as many parents will take a call depending on how things unfold post September 1.
“Almost 50% parents are willing to send their children back to school as they didn’t find online education effective. Many have told us that they will wait and watch before they make a decision. We are hoping that by mid-September the percentage of parents sending their children back to school will increase,” said Sadula Madhusudan, general secretary, Telangana Recognised School Managements Association