More than 87 per cent parents in favour of opening of schools for all classes

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, January 29

More than 87 per cent of the parents who participated in a survey carried out by a private schools’ association are in favour of schools becoming fully functional. More than 13,500 parents had participated in an online survey conducted by the Federation of Private Schools Welfare Association in the state.

The private schools have already expressed their displeasure over the partial reopening of schools, while the parents have also been demanding reopening of schools, however with covid guidelines.

Kulbhushan Sharma, president of the association, said “13,512 parents participated in a three-day online survey conducted by the association. While 87.5 per cent of parents were of the view that the schools from playway to Class XII should be reopened completely, only 12.5 per cent parents were not in the favour of reopening schools. Besides, 68.7 per cent of parents agreed that the new generation was heading towards illiteracy due to the closure of schools, while 31.3 per cent disagreed with this. They were also asked were they were satisfied with the government’s decision of keeping the schools and other educational institutes closed, while other establishments were functional, on which 84 per cent of parents stated that they were not satisfied, while 16 per cent were satisfied with the decision taken by the government.”

“Following repeated requests, the government has decided to open the schools for Class X to XII from February 1, while the remaining classes will be resumed at a later stage. The academic session is about to end. Students have already suffered a lot due to lockdown and online study can’t replace physical classroom learning. When other activities are on and people are moving freely then there is no point in keeping the children away from schools. Parents whose children are in junior classes are concerned about the education of their children. We will meet the education minister soon and submit the results of the survey to him and make an appeal to reopen the schools for all classes soon”, he added.

Meanwhile, Ajay Kumar Gupta, president of parents welfare association, said ,” Through online studies, the children are only getting theoretical knowledge but practical knowledge is also very important. The government should reopen the schools at the earliest, but at the same time the covid guidelines must be followed.”