Government schools across Jalandhar reopened on Wednesday after the summer vacation, but attendance remained sparse as many teachers continued to be engaged in government assignments while confusion over a possible extension of the holidays kept students away from classrooms.
Reasons for poor turnout
School heads cited two major reasons for the poor turnout: large-scale deployment of teachers for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and drug survey, and rumours about an extension of the summer break. Educators said speculation on social media, coupled with last year's extension of the summer vacation due to extreme weather, led many parents to believe a similar decision would be announced this year.
District authorities' directive
Anticipating staff shortages, the district education authorities on Tuesday directed school heads and Block Nodal Officers to deploy available teachers wherever required to ensure schools reopened on schedule and academic work continued despite the large-scale deployment of teaching staff for government assignments.
Impact on urban and rural schools
Despite this, the impact was visible across schools in both urban and rural areas. Maninder Kaur, Principal of Junior Model School, Jalandhar, said only around 300 of the nearly 1,400 enrolled students attended classes on the first day. "Many parents were expecting the government to extend the summer vacation. There was also a lot of discussion on social media, which may have contributed to the poor attendance," she said. She added that several members of the teaching staff were assigned to Booth Level Officer (BLO) duties, supervisory responsibilities and technical assistance for the SIR exercise, forcing the school to make alternative arrangements to ensure classes continued smoothly.
A similar situation prevailed at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Nehru Garden, where Principal Gohrina said, "Only 268 of the nearly 1,900 enrolled students attended the school. Additionally, nearly 90 per cent of the school's teaching staff was engaged in SIR and drug survey duties, leaving us with skeletal staff." Managing the reopening with such limited staff has been challenging, but we ensured that classes continued without disruption, she added.
In Alawalpur block, elementary school head Rampal reported that only 30 of the 66 enrolled students attended classes on the reopening day. The situation was further compounded as one of the school's two teachers was deputed for drug survey duty, leaving the lone teacher to manage the school's academic work.
Outlook for attendance
School heads expressed hope that attendance would improve over the next few days as parents became aware that schools had resumed functioning and the uncertainty surrounding the summer vacation extension subsided.
