Mumbai: 32 per cent parents won’t send kids to school, finds survey

An emotional parent and child outside Podar ORT International School at Worli on December 15, 2021. Pic/Bipin Kokate

The Covid-19 pandemic has created a whole new set of woes, the anxiety of young parents to let their children attend school physically is one of them. Although the number of Covid-19 cases in the city has decreased significantly and it has been over two months since schools across the state reopened, a survey of 7,665 parents (of pre-primary and primary students) has revealed that nearly 32 per cent of them are still unwilling to send their children to a physical school.

A survey of parents of school students in the age group of 3 to 10 ten years, conducted by the Early Childhood Association and Association for Primary Education and Research (ECA-APER), reveals that a major chunk of parents surveyed are still not ready to send their children to ‘in-person' school. The reasons stated included: lack of vaccination for the age group, or because they still work from home and don't have the time or inclination to send their children to a physical school, citing safety and convenience.

Speaking about the survey, Swati Popat Vats, president of ECA-APER, a not-for profit national organisation and president of Podar Education Network said, "Overall the survey showed that parents feel it is ok if their children don't rejoin physical school as they can always skip the early years of education."

Interestingly, the responses collected through the survey also highlighted that fathers are keen to send children for physical classes but mothers are hesitant. It also pointed out that homemakers are comfortable restarting their children's physical classes, while working mothers are not in favour of it due to factors like work from home or lack of proper transport and daycare facilities. Of the total survey sample, 60 per cent mothers decided not to send their kids to school, while 30 per cent who decided so are fathers.

Importance of early years

Vats emphasised that education and advocacy are required for these parents to understand the importance of early years' education. "It is important for these parents to know how social development foundation happens during the first six years of life and without contact with friends and collaborative activities, children will grow up lacking socio-emotional skills like sharing, waiting for their turn, thinking of others, impulse control, self-regulation and more. These are higher-order of thinking skills and contribute to cognitive learning and parents may not see the loss at present but will see its impact in later years, when it will be too late," Vats said.

Students at Jasudben ML School, Madhuri Shah Campus, Santacruz in February. Pic/Shadab Khan

She added, "If parents are able to give the same support in language and socio-emotional development then the impact can be mitigated, but most parents work and may not be able to give that required time and commitment. The need of the hour is to learn from this survey and help parents understand not only the importance of early years and primary years education but also help assuage their worry about Covid-19, its spread and its precautions so that children can go back to socio-emotional and collaborative learning environments in physical classrooms."

‘No vaccination, no school'

"I feel precaution is better than cure. We have often seen that the effects of viral infections are more in children. Nevertheless, it's very difficult for younger children to adhere to Covid appropriate behaviour. The only solution will be starting vaccination for younger kids. This can build up trust in parents like us and encourage us to send our children to school," said Deepika Singh, a resident of Dahisar and mother of a Std 1 student.

Some parents are still working from outstation and hence feel the option of online sessions is feasible for them. "With different waves of the pandemic hitting us time and again, I do not feel safe to send my eight-year-old daughter to school. Besides, we are in Hyderabad, and are yet to return to Mumbai. Hence online classes are convenient for us. We will think of sending our daughter to school from the next academic year looking at the Covid situation in the city," said Neha Rathi, another parent, from Malad.

Of the parents surveyed, 20 per cent said Covid is not over yet, 30 per cent said they felt unsafe in the absence of vaccination, 25 per cent stated issues pertaining to their work from home and 10 per cent cited transportation as the reason. This was despite 52 per cent of the parents admitting that their children would not benefit only from online education exposure. Around 52 per cent of parents replied that they would continue to have online schooling for their wards until they feel fully safe sending them to school.

‘Will change school'

Asked what would they do if the schools discontinue online sessions, 58 per cent of the parents admitted that they would be forced to send their children to school. However, 15 per cent openly said they would change schools, while nine per cent even said they would go for homeschooling in that case. A total of 32 per cent of the parents surveyed said that their children missed school and their friends, 24 per cent admitted that due to online schooling, their children need constant support, while 52 per cent said that they are still divided over the decision to send their children to school.

Recommendations from the survey

What schools can do
>> Arrange a safety tour for parents to show them the precautions being taken
>> Have reluctant parents talk to parents who have started sending their children to school
>> Hold a virtual workshop to help them understand the importance of foundational learning and development of socio-emotional skills and language skills and their link to cognitive development in later years
>> Keep online support ongoing and call the children for certain days in a week, till their parents are comfortable and confident

7,665
Sample size of the survey by two education bodies