While the Centre has allowed the states to decide on the reopening of schools, for parents, it is a resounding no to physical classes
Representation pic
A nationwide survey of parents and grandparents has revealed that 34 per cent of them don't want to send their kids to school till April 2021 and 71 per cent of them do not want to send them to school in October even if they reopen. The survey was conducted in the country's urban areas. Only 28 per cent respondents were okay with sending children to school in this calendar year.
Local Circles — a community social media platform which enables citizens to escalate policy-related issues surveyed 14,500 parents located in around 217 districts.
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Parents fear a second wave of the infection like the ones seen in other countries
A similar survey was also conducted in August and then the proportion of parents willing to send their kids to school was 23 per cent. The same has dropped to 20 per cent now. This comes amid rising COVID-19 cases in the country and the death toll being just short of one lakh.
Akshay Gupta, general manager, Local Circles, said, "As per the latest Unlock rules, the central government has said that states can decide on reopening schools. But parents' point of view appears to be a complete no.
A piechart shows parents' responses to sending kids to school in Oct
"The months of October and November have festivals in most parts of India and schools stay closed for many days in this period. After that, if the COVID situation is under control, the reopening of schools can be considered. However, parents also fear a second wave of the infection like the ones seen in other countries. Hence, they prefer that schools reopen in the next academic year itself."
Also Read: Here's how schools in Mumbai are gearing up for unlock amid COVID-19
The survey results will be shared with the central and state governments so that parents' feedback can be taken into consideration.
71%
Proportion of parents who do not want to send their kids to school in Oct
14.5k
No. of parents interviewed
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