Students in a class at the Cujira school complex in Bambolim, Goa
Gomantak Times
Schools in Goa welcomed nearly 2.7 lakh students of primary and junior classes on Monday after prolonged closure in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the virus-induced restrictions eased and new cases dropped below 100, schools reopened for classes 1 to 12 on February 21 after getting used to online learning in the last two years.
State Education Director Bhushan Savaikar said that management have been asked to abide by the Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) and a large number of schools reported a good percentage of attendance.
While most schools in Goa operated at a good capacity with students reporting to the schools in batches, the school management carried out the temperature checks of the students and staff members as a precaution.
"We are following all the SOP norms for Covid, our peons have cleaned the class with disinfectant and have conducted thermal temperature check of each student," said, a third standard class teacher.
Cujira school teachers welcomed the chidren on the first day after school reopened
Anuj Sawant, a fifth class student at Shantadurga High School in Bicholim, said, "It's nice to join the school after a very long time, sitting at home for online classes was boring."
Yasmin Shet, Assistant Headmistress, said, "we are very happy for all the students to be here. The teachers and the non-teaching staff are in school from morning 6 am, each teacher has welcomed students in their innovative ways, they have planned different activities. We have a strength of more than 1,300, so we have started the school in a full-fledged manner because it was a request from PTA that every child wants to come to school. I thank the government for allowing us to start physical classes for students."
A mother escorted her daughter at a school in Panjim
Several parents had come to schools to see off their children. Many parents said that they are happy that the children have returned to school
"Students need to get knowledge at school, I am so happy that the school has started. The management along with the parents should look after their respective duty. Education at school is very important. The parents and school should cooperate well. I am happy that son can attend school physically again," said Bicholim resident, Atish Dessai, whose son study in Class XI in Shantadurga High School in Bicholim.
Students of Shri Shraddhanand Primary School at Pagin in Canacona having fun at the playground.
In Mapusa, many private and government schools including Jnanprasarak Vidyalaya, Mantravadi Vidyalaya, Janata High School, Saraswat Vidyalaya, St. Brito High School, St. Mary's High School, St. Anthony High School, SFX High School, Ganesh Vidyamandir, Ambedkar Vidyalaya have decided to open schools in phases.
The schools in Goa were moved to online mode during the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020. After reductions in the number of Covid-19 cases, the State education department last week had issued a circular ordering resumption of the schools in offline mode.