SHILLONG, Jan 11: Zealous schoolchildren entered their classrooms on Monday to again smell the chalk dust and bask on benches and desks as schools officially reopened across Shillong since the turmoil caused by COVID-19.
School buildings were adorned with the presence of teachers and students getting back on track with the spirit from the heydays albeit most of them recorded thin attendance. Nonetheless, there were many who were more than eager to capitalise on classroom learning, an essence of education which was supplanted by online teaching last year.
“It is nice to come back to school as we could not understand online explanations properly. This way it is better as we can grasp things better and also meet our friends,” Deepak Pariyaar, a class VIII student, said.
Deepak says he feels safe coming to school as the protocols at his institute are strictly adhered to.
Another student, Fila Mawrie, said, “Online classes were a bit boring and we were missing out on firsthand learning”.
Asked if he is apprehensive of COVID-19, he said, “I am scared but what can we do? The school has reopened and we have to study, complying with the rules”.
Meanwhile, a city-based teacher said that the students are exhibiting interests in attending school.
“After a huge break the school has reopened and the children are happy to be in the school. I think now they have realised the importance since there has been a long gap since they had last attended classes,” Sutapa Das said, adding that the students are being accompanied by their parents.
Lamenting that the number of attendance is scant, another teacher, Sudarshana Bisharad, said, “One reason could be that many have not returned from vacations”. What is worse is parents are unwilling to send their child to school due to COVID apprehensions, Bisharad added.
The teacher hopes to see a leap in the numbers with time.
Principal of Jail Road Boys Higher Secondary School, Jibananda Pal, is contented with the fact that students are showing enthusiasm to attend school.
He said the school has taken multiple precautions to avert any overcrowding in the campus.
“Though academic is very important, we cannot ignore that the health of the students is important too,” he said, adding “we will have to balance those, which is delicate”.
Pal added that online teaching can only be a facilitator while offline teaching is much more effective and cannot be substituted.
