53% parents willing to send children to school: Survey

In June, 76% of Indian parents were hesitant to send their ward to schools as the country was reeling under the 2nd wave of Covid-19

Nearly 53% of parents surveyed were now willing to send their children to school, but wanted local administration to ensure vaccination of support staff and teachers.

The survey, conducted by LocalCircles in August, reflected a change in sentiment of parents who were largely against sending their children to schools in June.

“On an aggregate basis, 53% of Indian parents support the reopening of schools in August-September, however, 44% of parents are against the same,” the survey said.

In June, 76% of Indian parents were hesitant to send their ward to schools as the country was reeling under the aftermath of the deadly second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As cases continued to decline, this percentage reduced drastically to 48% in July, and is currently at 44%.

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Parents who are unwilling to send children to school cite the risk spread of infection during festivals as there could be low chances of effective social distancing in schools. The parents were also concerned about transmission of Covid-19 from children to adults in the family.

As many as 74% of parents who are willing to send children to school want central and state governments to ensure that schools have sufficient Rapid Antigen Test kits made available.

An overwhelming 89% of parents want the state governments to organise free vaccination camps at/near schools for August and September so all school staff can get vaccinated on priority.

The survey received over 47,000 responses from 24,000 unique parents residing in 378 districts of India.

Of the total respondents, 66% were men while 34% were women. While 42% of respondents were from Tier 1 districts, 28% from Tier 2 and 30% respondents were from Tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

Last month, UNICEF had said that schools cannot wait for cases to get to zero, maintaining that there was clear evidence that primary and secondary schools were not amongst the main drivers of transmission.