Parents wary of sending children back to school

SURVEY FINDINGS

Parents wary of sending children back to school

Homeschooling May Become A More Viable Option In The Future

Aditi.R@timesgroup.com

Chennai:  15.05.2020

If schools reopen in the city, will students return? Not all, since the majority of parents will monitor the situation for at least a month or more before sending them to school and a few will be switching their children permanently to homeschooling. A recent survey conducted by ParentCircle, a parenting platform, pointed out that parents want to be absolutely sure that the Covid-19 outbreak is under complete control before risking sending their children back to school and are looking at other alternatives.

SV Kalpana, a parent of a class nine student who studies in a private city school, is one such parent who said that she has already enquired with the National Institute of Open Schooling and spoken to private tutors to teach her son. “He’s currently attending online classes, but we are not sure if we are ready to send him to school yet since the situation is precarious,” she said. “The school’s principal assured that they would be safe. But, I’ll wait until the lockdown is lifted, and if I’m still unsure I’ll have to get the TC and teach him at home. He’s already learning at home, it won’t be that hard,” she said.

The survey said that 13% of parents are considering homeschooling as an option, instead of risking sending their children back to their regular classrooms. It also said that 54% of parents will be monitoring the situation for a month before they decide to send them back to attend regular classes, while 22% of parents want to avoid sending them to school for at least six months.

Nearly half of the parents have said no to their children from participating in sports activities, while a few are fine with letting them play individual sports. They are also planning to switch to online activity classes. Apart from schooling, the survey also covered other key areas surrounding a child’s life, like playing with other children, attending birthday parties, visits to malls, restaurants, movie theatres, travelling by public transport, and going on vacation. The results pointed out that there is evident fear in the minds of the parents at the moment and most are likely to impose restrictions on all these areas.

Nalina Ramalakshmi, founder and managing director of ParentCircle /said that parents are in need of assurance that their children will be safe in all places, including schools. “The onus is on schools and other public places to ensure that safety measures and physical distancing policies are in place before they open up for activities.”

“There is general anxiety all over. But the welfare of children is of utmost priority of everyone including the state government,” said N Uma, principal of Ahobila Math Oriental School. “When the schools re-open they will be looked after with the best of care and facilities. But given the situation we all have to overcome this fear and get back to normal, following safety measures.”

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