Schools and pre-university colleges in Mysuru district reopened for students, after a gap of nine months, on Friday. While 60% school students attended the classes, only 30% PU students were present on day one.
While regular classes began for class 10 and second PUC students, who will appear for board exams, the students from grades 6 to 9 attended Vidyagama programme on their respective school campus.
The schools had remained closed from March 2020, following the outbreak of Covid-19.
Compared to urban schools, the strength was good in rural schools. According to Deputy Director for Public Instruction (DDPI) Panduranga, the students attended the classes without fear as the department and the teachers had made elaborate arrangements to ensure the safety of the students.
"All school buildings were sanitised, the students were provided with masks and hand sanitisers. A total of 15 students were accommodated in each class and we used library and other classrooms to conduct the classes,” the DDPI said.
Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Paramesh and DDPI Panduranga visited several schools and took stock of the measures taken by the institutions. All institutions has adopted the guidelines issued by the government.
“We received good response from the students as well as teachers and parents. While Mysuru urban recorded 50% strength, the school in rural region recorded the strength of approximately 75%,” the DDPI said.
The district has a total of 2,290 schools, offering primary and high school education and there are 2,08,605 students and 20,088 teachers. There are 1,576 schools offering education from Class I to VIII, with a total of 1,68,495 students and 11,893 teachers. Similarly, 714 schools offer 10th standard education with 40,110 students and 8,195 teachers.
In-charge Deputy Director for Pre-University Nagamohan said that the strength was approximately 30%. As it was Friday, many students have planned to attend classes from Monday.
However, a section of parents are still under fear of Covid and said that the government would have reopened the schools after two months. Sudarshan of Vijayanagar said that he has not sent his son to school due to the fear of Covid. “I have planned to send him after a week,” he said.