Mumbai: 34 per cent parents yet to give consent for their children to attend schools, says BMC

Students attend classes at Parle Tilak Vidyalaya Marathi Medium Secondary School in October this year. File pic

Over a month after schools across the city started in-person classes for Std VIII to Std X, data collated by the BMC reveals that around 34 per cent parents have still not given consent for their wards to attend offline school. Most of them have cited health concerns in view of the pandemic as their reason. In view of this, the civic body's education department has now started an awareness drive to encourage more parents to let their kids attend offline classes.

As per the data collected by the department, a total of 809 schools have started in-person classes for Std VIII to Std X, which have 71,923 students. Out of these, parents of 47,634 (66.2 per cent) students have given consent for offline classes, but only 42,104 (88.4 per cent of those with consent) students actually attend school regularly. Whereas, 24,289 students (33.8 per cent) still do not have their parents' consent to attend in-person classes. While there are several reasons for this, unwillingness is the most common one. Parents of about 14,635 (60.3 per cent) students of the 24,289 who still do not have consent are unwilling to send their wards to school. The other reasons include health concerns, migration, transfer to some other school, and contact issues among others.

Students of MVM School in Andheri interact at the institute's premises in October this year. File pic

Of the 29,819 students, which include those who do not have parents' consent and those who have consent but are not attending in-person classes, 19,962 (66.9 per cent) candidates are studying through online learning modes. Whereas, 849 students (2.4 per cent), are completely away from education. Speaking to mid-day, Deputy Municipal Commissioner Ajit Kumbhar said, "We have started creating awareness by calling up parents and visiting their houses with the help of NGOs. We are even taking help from corporators to get students back to school, and are hopeful that the numbers will increase in the coming days." Kumbhar added that online classes would continue till a good number of students returns to school. BMC Education Officer Raju Tadvi said, "The attendance for offline classes is good. We are now working on creating awareness on the importance of in-person classes and that it is safe. This includes counseling of parents."

Principal of a BMC school in the eastern suburbs said, "Till the pandemic continues, parents will be apprehensive, especially when they have the option of online schooling. But the number of parents who have given consent for in-person classes is far higher than what we were expecting." Another BMC official said, "Many parents were observing the situation after schools reopened and some others were reluctant as the Diwali vacation was around the corner. But now they are assured of the safety, so the numbers will increase."

Speaking to mid-day, a parent who has given consent for offline classes, Bharati Bhana from Dahisar East, said, "Initially online learning was an option but soon it was observed that children were spending more time playing games on their mobile phones post classes. Learning that happens in school is way more effective. The school principal held a meeting with all parents before starting in-person classes, which showed that they were prepared for it." Bhana, who works as a domestic help, has two kids who study in Borivli's Ashokvan BMC school.

Another parent, Jyoti Salvi, whose son is in Std VIII of the same school, said, "We have to learn to live with Covid. How long are we going to stay at home? Online schooling was not doing justice to learning as interactions between teachers and students are difficult through a screen."

Varsha Ghagare, a parent from Andheri who has not yet given consent for offline classes, said, "During the lockdown, we moved to our hometown to contribute to the family's farming business as we lost our jobs in Mumbai. Now as we plan to return, our priority is to look for jobs. My daughter can continue studying from here through the online mode."

Offline schooling

>>Schools that have started classes for Std VIII to Std X - 809
>>Total students enrolled - 71,923
>>Students who have parents' consent - 47,634 (66.2%)
>>Students who do not have consent - 24,289 (33.8%)
>>Parents unwilling to send their wards to school - 14,635 (60.3% of those without consent)
>>Unwell students - 3,414 (14% of those without consent)
>>Students who have migrated - 3,086 (12.7% of those without consent)