SHILLONG, Dec 1: Schools have partially reopened in the state from Tuesday after remaining closed for months owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Classes from 9 to 12 have resumed in schools outside containment zones in both urban and rural areas, much to the relief and delight of students and teachers alike.
Bishnu Kumar Yadav, a Class 12 student from the science stream, said he was feeling great to resume classes in school after a lengthy break.
“It’s always great to meet your friends and teachers even though our studies were affected initially,” he said.
It may be mentioned that schools in the city were closed since March this year because of the pandemic and nationwide lockdown. Since then, a majority of the students were dependent on online classes for their studies.
While many had the privilege to attend online classes, others were not fortunate enough, with either network issues or the inability to afford such a mode of education posing hurdles.
However, a few months back, the state government made a few amendments and allowed higher secondary students to visit schools for clearing doubts regarding their subjects.
Sushma Hajong, another Class 12 student of a city school said that she somehow managed to get her studies going with the help of the doubt clearing sessions. “But now as exams are approaching, we need more classes,” she said.
Another student said that it was always a pleasure for him to come to school and reunite with friends and teachers.
“But during the doubt clearing sessions, that feel-good factor was somehow missing and we were under tremendous pressure to cope with the syllabus,” he said.
Admitting that network is a major problem for hassle-free online education, the student is now optimistic that he will be able to clear his board examination with flying colours as schools have reopened.
Rahul Chaterjee, a physics teacher said that it was great feeling for him to do what he loved best, which is teaching his students in school.
“I literally lost count as I continued teaching my students until someone came and informed that my class time was over,” Chaterjee said.
J Pal, the principal of Jail Road Boys Higher Secondary School, while sharing his views on the challenges schools would be up against now, said that the Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBoSE) has reduced the syllabus and the good thing for his school was that a substantial portion of the syllabus has already been covered.
Pal admitted that many underprivileged students did not have access to the means for education through the online mode.
Now that schools have reopened, he is relieved, saying that the school was following all the safety protocols laid down by the state government.