Rural areas push for reopening primary schools

NAGPUR: State education minister Varsha Gaikwad held a series of review meetings with officials last week, and the demand for reopening of primary schools in rural areas was reiterated by attendees. As per sources in the education department, local body school teachers in rural areas say that parents in villages are keen on sending their kids back to school.
So far, only Std V-XII are permitted for physical classes in rural areas.In urban areas, Std VIII-XII have been allowed.
Gaikwad tweeted that some zilla parishad (ZP) CEOs who were present in the review meet urged her to consider primary school reopening. The minister assured them that she would take up the issue with the chief minister’s office.
In Vidarbha, Gadchiroli and Chandrapur district teachers have been pushing for reopening of primary schools since the start of the academic session. A ZP school teacher in Bhamragarh taluka of Gadchiroli said, “These kids anyway spend their entire day together in the village. Our teachers are visiting villages and conducting ‘home study’ sessions because we can’t keep these kids away from the education ecosystem.”
Another teacher, who visits villages for these home study sessions, said, “I do not see the logic of keeping primary school closed now. They are already sitting together in somebody’s frontyard when I go there to hold these study sessions. This entire thing can be done inside a school too; what’s the difference? The state government is unnecessarily prolonging decisions and harming the students’ future.”
In September, TOI had reported how even Unicef warned about a ‘generational catastrophe’ if schools continue to remain closed.
A ZP teacher in Chandrapur, where majority of the students are from tribal community, said, “Those in Mumbai who make these decisions must look at the environment our kids live in. Majority of these kids’ parents only have school-level education, while some kids have illiterate parents too. The academic impetus is not there, and the longer these kids stay away from school, more the chances of them dropping out.”
Sources in the education department say the reopening of primary section is impossible before Diwali, as authorities will first check if the festive season leads to a surge in number of cases.