National-level survey shows that parents of school-going children are happy with mask compliance but are concerned about indoor air-ventilation, eating together and assemblies
Survey says that 41 per cent of the children going to schools are having snacks/lunch indoors, which according to their parents is risky. Representation pic
While schools in Mumbai are yet to open up for in-person classes, findings of a new pan-India survey have revealed that 46 per cent of the schools that have reopened are following all COVID safety parameters, but 39 per cent of the institutes are still allowing students to have food together. Parents have raised concerns over this, as they find it risky.
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Local Circles — a community social media platform — which has been conducting numerous surveys on schools throughout the pandemic, has tried to find out parents’ opinions on the new normal of blended mode of learning with schools reopening across the country. Their latest national-level survey shows that parents of school-going children are happy with mask compliance but are concerned about indoor air-ventilation, eating together and assemblies. The survey received around 40,000 responses from 388 districts of India.
While 84 per cent of the parents have said that mask compliance is good, only 70 per cent approve of social distancing and hygiene compliance. About 36 per cent parents said that classrooms did not have proper ventilation and 41 per cent of the children going to schools were having their snacks/lunch indoors, which according to their parents was risky.
Sachin Taparia, founder of Local Circles, said, “Data from other countries like the UK, Switzerland and USA shows how cases increased after reopening of schools. India must learn from what has worked for them and what hasn’t in order to create a model, which balances reopening of schools with safety of children. In the last LocalCircles survey released in mid-August, 53 per cent of parents were willing to send their children to schools while 44 per cent were still hesitant. To help parents do away with the hesitancy, it is important that the concerns of those whose children are going to school are effectively addressed. This survey tries to identify those concerns.” The survey findings will be sent to the chief secretaries of all state governments to create a safe school-reopening model.
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