SCHOOLS REOPEN IN ANDHRA PRADESH, BUT ATTENDANCE REMAINS LOW

Schools in Andhra Pradesh reopened on Monday after a long gap of seven months, but attendance of only 42 percent of students was registered on the first day on Monday. Strict Covid-19 protocols were followed in the schools, but attendance was low.

98.84 % of the high schools were opened in the state, with 87.78 % of teachers attending school, according to a press statement issued by state Minister for Education Adimulapu Suresh.

The attendance of class 9 students was 39.62% overall, across 13 districts, while the number was slightly higher of class 10 students (43.65 % of Class X students). Schools began classes for ninth and tenth classes. Seating was arranged for only 16 students in each room and only half-day schools were conducted.

Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh said 42% of students attended schools on the first day on Monday. A woman staffer of a model school and two students of Nellore district tested positive.

The institutions were sanitised and necessary treatment would be provided to the patients. As per reports in local media, six students, including three each from Nellore and Chittoor districts of Andhra tested positive when the medical department conducted random tests. Similarly, about 57 teachers in Chittoor and a watchman and a mid-day meals helper in Nellore district also tested positive. This created further tensions among the parents of the Children.

Most private schools have also resumed for students of classes 9 and 10, according to the president of Andhra Pradesh Private Unaided Schools’ Managements’ Association. “Earlier, when the government planned to reopen schools in September, we had asked the government to reconsider the decision as parents were not keen on sending their children to school. Even now, most schools are seeing student attendance 20 % to 30 %,” the president said.