In person: Offline school to begin for Classes 1-5 from Monday in Gujarat

Gujarat has decided to begin offline classes for grade 1 to grade 5 from tomorrow. The attendance will be optional and the consent of the parents for their children to attend classes is mandatory, as decided by Gujarat Minister of Education, Jitu Vaghani.

However, most of the parents are afraid to send their children for offline classes and believe that the school management should also take responsibility, in case any child gets affected by COVID.

“As a parent, I feel that it is not safe for children to attend offline classes for now since the COVID cases are rising. However, I know education is important, but the risk of infection amongst children is higher without vaccination. Also, the schools are asking for a consent letter from parents, but if at any point a child gets COVID, the school management will not take any responsibility. I feel that if we are sending our children to schools, the management of the schools must also take equal responsibility,” Jayesh Patel, Ahmedabad-based businessman, whose child is studying in class 2, told The Daily Guardian.

Most of the other parents also share the same opinion and believe that the government must form a committee to check whether all the schools are maintaining hygiene in their premises. Looking into the same matter, an owner of a small hotel in Ahmedabad, Samir Patel, whose child is also studying in class 2, shared, “As of now, I don’t feel safe to let my child attend offline classes. Many parents are afraid to send their children to schools. Besides, the school management is afraid to take any responsibility, in case any child gets affected by COVID. I feel that the government should form a committee to check whether the schools are sanitizing the premises. Before COVID, most of the schools didn’t maintain cleanliness on a regular basis.”

The Gujarat Education Minister also asks the schools to follow COVID protocols like wearing masks, using hand sanitisers and maintaining social distancing. The schools are also allowed to impose other restrictions in order to comply with the COVID guidelines.