Private schools ignore govt order, open campus to students

Despite the state government deciding against the Centre's order on allowing kids to visit schools, various schools across the state were open for 'consultation' with students on Monday.

Further, in some of the schools, children had gathered on the premises in the morning waiting to meet teachers and discuss academic matters. Many children revealed that they were not aware of the government's order restricting the visit until the end of September.

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In some schools, classes were held for those who came up with doubts about the academic syllabus. But a majority of the schools failed to maintain physical distance and other safety measures that need to be followed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The state government issued an order towards the last minute and we were well prepared to hold consultations. Also, as it was late to reach out to the students to communicate about the order, some of the students had come to the school and we were also compelled to discuss with them," a principal of a private school in Bengaluru said.

The government's decision to defer students' voluntary visits to the schools until the end of September is strongly criticised by the private school management association.

D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka said, "The government has continued with its Vidyagama program. But it is restricting kids from consulting teachers in private schools.

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This explains the actual intention of the state government. The department is trying to attract students from private schools to government schools by misleading them."

He further added, "We were well prepared to welcome students and had even spent thousands of rupees on the sanitisation of the campuses."