Bhopal: As schools prepare to call kids, parents get the shivers

BHOPAL: While schools are preparing to reopen and welcome back the teachers and students to clear their doubts before the first quarter exams, parents of the students are not very sure if allowing them to go to school will be a good idea.
A few parents also shared their concerns with TOI. They said schools asking for consent form are stating that if the student falls ill, the school will not be deemed responsible for it, which is extremely worrying for the parents.

The overwhelming feeling among parents TOI spoke to was that it’s just too risky.Some were willing to brave it, though. “The Covid situation is not under control and it is not wise to put our children at risk, no matter how old they are. Even in doubt clearing sessions, students will sit on chairs and benches already used by other students, will touch tables, handles, railings etc and maintaining such strict sanitization is not possible for schools. This year, I do not really care about studies. All I care about is my child’s safety,” said Charanjeet Kaur, mother of a class 11 student.
Deepesh Vijayvargiya, a businessman, said, “I do not think it will be wise to rush into things and send children to school when the cases are increasing to rapidly. I would advise my daughter to take online classes and clear her doubts online itself. When the online system is functioning quite efficiently, why put the children at unnecessary risk?”
Doctors of the city are also advising against the reopening of schools, saying that when all the measures taken by the central and state government have not been able to bring down the cases, what is the guarantee that schools will be able to follow the protocol 100%?
“There is no point in exposing the children and we should wait for the vaccine. The online classes can't compete with the real thing, but still it is functioning adequately enough. Covid-19 is a disease with a wide range of cases with most of the people spreading the virus being asymptomatic. How will you know if a child in class is asymptomatic when the child itself doesn't know? Even with the older students and school staff, taking this risk is pointless,” said Dr Rashmi Tripathi, assistant professor at LN Medical College.
However, some parents have expressed their willingness to allow their children to attend the doubt-clearing sessions as long as the schools do not start holding regular classes with a large number of students.
“I am a teacher as well as a parent, so I understand both sides. While I would not want to send my child to school if the school restarts classes with full strength, I will be fine with sending them to school for a short while to understand difficult topics. If the school decides to hold exams with staggering attendance and can utilize the whole school building to take the exams for one class at a time, it will be fine by me,” said Huma Khan, a teacher and parent.