Covid-19 spurs weird wish: Parents in Karnataka don't want kids to be promoted to next class

In the absence of offline classes, children are finding it difficult to learn which has forced many parents to request for “retention”of their wards in the same grade amid the directions by the government to promote all students.

Private unaided schools across the state are getting such requests from parents for the last one month, majority of them at the primary level at grade 1, 2, 3 and 4. But the directions issued by the department of public instructions to promote all the students is not allowing schools to consider the parents’ requests.

D Shashi Kumar, General Secretary of Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, told DH, “We are getting lots of requests from parents to retain kids in the same class. They are even ready to pay the fee prescribed, but they want their wards to study in the same class for one more year.”

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This is because the parents feel that the children have not learnt anything during the previous academic year due to absence of offline classes and lack of access to online
classes.

“We have started online classes since the 2020-21 academic year and it was difficult for students to catch the lessons. Even lack of practice has affected the learning levels of the children,” Kumar explained.

According to Nayana, a parent, her daughter was in grade 1 last year and she did not learn anything in online education.

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Nayana told DH, “Foundation is very important and my daughter forgets what she learnt in her kindergarten days. We have no other way rather than asking the school to retain her in the same class for one more year.”

But, this year the department of public instructions has directed the schools to promote all the students and despite requests from parents, the schools are not in a position to retain students.

As explained by the school managements, all these years they were allowed to do so.

“The number of requests to retain children was very less all these years, but this year we are getting a lot many requests,” said the principal of a private unaided school in Bengaluru.