BHUBANESWAR: Sweets, chocolates and flowers greeted children of primary grades as they stepped into their schools which reopened after a gap of two years on Monday. The campuses of government and government-aided schools, decorated with balloons, flowers and ‘rangoli’ were abuzz with fun-filled activities to familiarise the students with physical mode of education and classroom teaching. There were scenes of teachers getting emotional while ushering in the young ones into the classrooms.
The atmosphere at private schools was equally cheerful as school managements and teachers left no stone unturned to make junior students comfortable on their first day of the campus after a long gap. Some schools welcomed the students in a traditional manner by applying ‘tilaks’ on their foreheads and showering flower petals on them. Abiding by the government guidelines on Covid, the school authorities had also arranged thermal scanning, hand wash and sanitisation facilities at the entrance gates.
Students, too, were enthusiastic about returning to classrooms. Rajlaxmi Panda, a student of Saraswati Vidya Mandir in Balasore, said she was happy to return to school and meet her friends after two years. Similarly, Sipun Barik, a Class V student of Unit II Primary School in Bhubaneswar said he enjoyed the first day. “Learning with classmates on campus is much better than studying online,” he said.
Students in the government and government-aided schools were involved in a number of co-curricular activities such as preparing colour notes, drawing, singing and other teaching and learning material (TLM) activities on day one. “A number of such activities are lined up for the first one week as part of the rapport building exercise to be carried out on the campuses to offer a fun-filled learning atmosphere to the students,” said Susama Patra, a teacher from the Unit II government school.
Apart from Class I to V students, classroom teaching also resumed for the students of VI and VII at upper primary level on the day. Their classes had remained suspended from January 7 this year following the outbreak of Covid-19 third wave. “Today is a day of celebration as our schools have become fully functional for the students,” said School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash. He said a good number of primary students went to schools on the first day and the attendance is expected to be 100 per cent within a week.