HYDERABAD: Government schools in the city are finding it difficult to accommodate students owing to dearth of infrastructure as well as teachers. Heads of several government schools in the city on Wednesday, September 1, 2021, claimed that there has been a drastic increase in the enrollment of students post the pandemic. But this would lead to major issues in accommodation and social distancing.
At the Raj Bhavan Government School, which is known for its good infrastructure, scores of parents were seen lining up at the headmistress’ office in the last several months to get admissions for their children. But school officials are helpless as they cannot accommodate any more students. Despite the low turnout on the first day, teachers at the school were struggling to accommodate all the students in the class.
Manjulatha Narra, Headmistress at the Raj Bhavan Government School said, “Ever since the pandemic, there has been a mass migration of students from private to government schools. As the classes were online, parents did not want to spend as much money as they do in private schools.”
She added, “The accommodation capacity at our school is only of 500 students and as of now we have 750 students enrolled with us. This is just the number for Classes I to V. If all the students turn up, then we do not have enough classrooms to accommodate them, teachers to teach them, and follow social distancing.”
At the Musheerabad Government High School, this year more than 150 new enrollments have taken place, informed the school Headmaster Narendra Yadav.
Low turnout as schools reopen
Schools in Khammam district witnessed low turnout as most parents were reluctant to send their children. The fear of third Covid-19 wave is keeping many from signing consent forms for their children even as schools have ensured safety protocols. In Khammam, 29,224 out of 83,373 students studying in government schools attended while in Kothagudem district only 15,000 of the 56,000 students were present. Attendance in private schools was less than 10 per cent. A similar situation was witnessed in Adilabad.