Many private schools to delay resuming classes

While students in standards VI-VIII are set to return to school on September 6, parents are wary of sending their children to school

While schools are set to welcome students of classes VI to VIII back to the classroom on Monday, managements of private schools are not expecting attendance to be high. Many schools that had resumed offline classes for standards IX and X have suspended them due to poor attendance. Principals and teachers are expecting a low turnout as parents are hesitant to send their children to school. M. Srinivasan, president of the Management of Independent CBSE Schools’ Association, said that many schools affiliated to the CBSE do not plan to reopen for classes VI to VIII on Monday. “We did a survey and only 11% of parents were ready to send their children to school. Parents are also satisfied with the way online classes are being conducted,” he said. Manila Carvalho, principal of Delhi Public School, Bengaluru East, said they started high school classes (IX and X) on August 23 but decided to stop them last week after only 5-10% of students reported to school. “It is difficult to conduct classes for just five or 10 students per class. We will restart the classes at a later date after a detailed survey is conducted and when parents feel confident to send their children to school,” she said. The school is not planning to resume physical classes from Monday.