Mumbai schools to focus on familiarity as children go to class

It was a very promising Phase II reopening of schools across the city as teachers and staffers welcomed students from the younger standards on Wednesday Almost all state board schools resumed inperson classes for Stds I to VII and it was a celebration of sorts with many of the premises decorated and all deckedup Though most of the schools saw less than 50 per cent attendance the administrations are confident that the numbers will increase post the Christmas vacationSpeaking to midday Aparna Kashid headmistress at D S High School in Sion said ldquoThe focus of the day was to help students acclimatise to the school environment as they returned after almost two years While for the younger ones it was their first day even the elder ones need to get used to school life againrdquo The school held a grand reopening ceremony on WednesdayTeachers welcome students with gifts and flowers at Sadhna Vidyalaya School in Sion on WednesdayTrustee President of the school Rajendra Pradhan shared ldquoAs students of Std VIII and above have been attending physical classes the premises were already safe for the return of the younger ones The system includes continuous sanitisation and other safety protocols Now as all classes have been included shifts have been formed to ensure social distancing The primary objective is to ease students into the new normal while academics will continue through both the online and offline modesrdquo This Sion school saw a huge response in terms of the number of students returning to classroomsAnnette Henriques headmistress of Mazgaonrsquos St Maryrsquos School said ldquoThere were not many students on the first day but the response will get better over timerdquo In order to follow the SOPs schools have created their own timetables and divided students as per different sessions to ensure social distancing For example if a class has 40 students it is divided in two batches of 20 each In some schools batches are being called for inperson classes on alternate days and in some multiple sessions of short durations are held in order to accommodate all However teachers are also ensuring that online learning continues for those who are yet to return to schoolsStudents attend morning prayers at DS High School in Sion on Wednesday PicsAtul KambleldquoThere is absolutely no word to describe the excitement It was getting tougher to keep children focused online We are happy that schools are on their way to normalcy We have to continue both modes of teaching for some time but we hope to go back to inperson classes completelyrdquo shared a teacher from a Bandra schoolldquoI was waiting for inperson classes to start I missed my friends a lotrdquo shared Sumit Hire a Std VI student of a BMC school in Dahisar According to Sumit online learning had several limitations as his friends had to share mobile phones and laptops with their siblings as wellShivani Sanghvi Std VII student of G H high School in Borivli said ldquoIt was really exciting to be back in school after so long I met my friends and even teachers were very friendlyrdquo 28 per cent students back to schoolAs per information provided by the BMC only 28 per cent students attended inperson classes on Wednesday A total of 2434 schools fall under the BMCrsquos jurisdiction which includes MPS aided unaided and private state board schools Out of these 2246 schools started inperson classes for Stds I to VII on WednesdayItrsquos literally Day 1 for Mumbai Public SchoolsStudents attend a class at Woolen Mill MPS on Wednesday PicAshish RajeTen nonstate board schools also known as Mumbai Public Schools MPS mdash launched by the BMC during the COVID lockdown have been functioning online till now For the first time ever they opened their gates for students on Wednesday Since these are new schools they only have primary sections ldquoThis was the first day on campus not only for the children but also for teachers and staff We have been operating online since the school was launched Everyone was excited to begin inperson classes Parents too were really happy and supportiverdquo shared Jyoti Vakharia principal of Woolen Mill MPS Adding to this Pratibha Dhole principal of Azizbaug MPS said ldquoIt was a very different experience for all of us Teachers are happy to begin inperson classes Students too had so much to sharerdquo