85% of parents want Haryana govt schools to reopen: Survey

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As part of the survey, the education department randomly selected some schools from each of the 22 districts in the state to seek the parents’ opinion on reopening.

The parents were asked four questions — (i) Should the schools be opened from September? (ii) Are parents willing to send their wards to school from September? (iii) Has any member(s) of the family taken a Covid test? (iv) Has any member of the family tested positive for Covid?

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The education department, officials said, has now decided to conduct a trial run in two schools. The survey found that a majority of parents of Class X and XII students in these schools were in the favour of reopening. These schools are Government Senior Secondary School, Nigdhu in Karnal district, and Government High School, Bajidpur in Sonipat district. Each of these schools will reopen for four days each; the dates are to be finalised shortly.

During the trial run, officials said, the functioning of schools will be filmed — how students come to the schools, on foot or on cycles; how they enter; how they attend classes; whether they touch each other and how they leave. Four or five camera teams may be engaged for this.

The classes will be held with small groups of students on the porch instead of classrooms. Social distancing will be ensured and students of one section will not be allowed to come in contact with students from another section, officials said.

A seven-member team, comprising health and sanitation experts and four officials of the education department, will watch these videos every evening to assess whether all SOPs are being followed, said officials.

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In case of lapses, they will alert the teachers to rectify them the next day. The recording will be shown to all teachers before other schools open up. The education department, it is learnt, is preparing to hold classes of Class X and Class XII from September 21 as the Centre has said students of Classes IX to XII may meet teachers for guidance in schools outside containment zones. However, students have to submit a written consent from their parents for this.

The state government has now sent the data from the survey to all government-run schools, seeking the opinion of school management committees that comprises parents of students, school headmaster, village sarpanch/ward councillor and other stakeholders.

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“The school management committee will take opinion of the parents of all students who study in the classes from 9th to 12th. If more than 60% of the parents are in favour of reopening of the schools, then it will be recorded in the register of the school,” says an official communication issued by the Directorate of School Education on September 4. The committee will later inform parents.

Officials say the process to seek the opinion of parents will start on Monday and meetings of the SMCs shall be completed by September 21. Director of State Secondary Education, J Ganesan, told The Indian Express that the process to reopen schools is “still in planning stage”.

Director of Elementary Education Department Pradeep Kumar said the government is yet to take a final decision.