Chandigarh private schools to remain shut till Diwali

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 3

Private schools in the city have decided not to open until Diwali and take another survey seeking parents’ views on reopening of schools.

In a fresh survey conducted by private schools, only 15 per cent of parents have agreed to send their wards to schools. President of the Independent School Association HS Mamik said, “We will open schools only when 50 per cent of the parents agree to send their children to schools. We will again carry a survey after 10 days and seek parents’ opinion. So far, the consensus is that many private schools in the city will not open till Diwali.”

Atul Khanna, Director of Strawberry Fields High School, said, “So far, parents are not interested in sending children to school. We are planning to encourage board classes to start after the Diwali break.”

A handful of private schools have reopened for regular teaching, but the attendance is the bare minimum. Reema Dewan, Principal of Delhi Public School, said, “Only six students turned up at our school, but the consent was received from many. We have an arrangement for both online and offline classes. Online classes are the preferred mode of education. We will see how students turn up during the coming week.”

The UT Education Department had allowed private schools to adopt instructions given by the department or amend these as per their requirement. However, the schools have to adhere to the SOPs issued by the Ministry of Education.

Meanwhile, the attendance remained only 2 per cent of the total strength in government schools on the second day as well. On Tuesday, the attendance increased by 500 as a total of 3,759 students turned up in government schools.