SHILLONG, Oct 1: A major chunk of schools in the city have opted to remain shut regardless of the go-ahead given by the Meghalaya government to restart physical classes in urban areas, particularly for Classes VI to VIII, from October 1. But for the select few that decided to welcome their students in the classrooms, there was no dearth of delight and gratefulness as the students apparently rooted for this version compared to e-learning.
One of the schools which opened their doors for students on Friday was Jail Road Boys’ School.
A Class VIII student, who arrived at his school for the first time since March 2020, when COVID first struck, expressed his happiness over finally getting to meet his friends and teachers, apart from being grateful for being able to attend in-person classes regularly. “In online classes, we used to get confused but our teachers helped us,” another student, PK Roy, said. A Class VI student said that their studies had taken a hit following the onslaught of COVID but expressed optimism that things would now take a turn for the better with resumption of physical classes. On the other hand, Principal of Jail Road Boys’ School, Jibananda Pal, stated that all protocols such as maintaining of social distance and checking thermal screening are strictly adhered to, even as he added that doctors have been kept on stand-by in case of an emergency.
