Schools start in rural Pune, 9.4k of 2.38 lakh students attend

Pune, November 23

Schools and colleges for classes IX to XII reopened in the rural areas of Pune district on Monday for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak started in March, with officials stating over 9,000 students attended on day one.

Zilla Parishad Education Officer Ganpat More said 215 of the over 1,200 schools and colleges in the district’s rural areas reopened and 9,431 of the 2.38 lakh registered students attended classes.

More said parents were apprehensive about the health of their children as it was the first day and institutions in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic areas were yet to open.

More said, as on Saturday, 6,556 teachers had been tested for novel coronavirus in schools in his jurisdiction, and only 29 reports returned positive, and all of them were asymptomatic.

“On arrival, all students were thermally screened, their oxygen levels were checked, and classrooms sanitised. We also took care of social distancing in seating arrangements” said Sopan Kanchan, secretary, Mahatma Gandhi Sarvoday Sangh Trust, which runs a school in Urali Kanchan.

A T Kalamkar, principal of V S Satav High School and Junior College in Wagholi area said 56 students, out of 350 from class XII, and 75 students, out of 650 from class X, attended on Monday, adding that tests of all 95 teachers at his institution returned negative.

Payal Pawar, a student at SV Satav High School said she was excited to attend classes physically after eight months but her parents were apprehensive about her wellbeing, adding that measures taken by the school management were very reassuring.

More said the district administration will take responsibility for the health of the students and bear medical expenses if any student contracted the infection. — PTI