Kolkata: Parents happy with reopening of schools but flag kids’ vaccination concern – Times of India

KOLKATA: The decision to re-open primary and upper primary schools from February 16 was welcomed by most parents as they were happy with the prospect of their children returning to outdoor life and classroom environment. Some, however, were worried as the kids are yet to be vaccinated.
North Kolkata resident Snigdha Chakrabarty, whose daughter studies in a central Kolkata school, said she was happy and worried at the same time. “She has never been to school and has been attending online classes for two years. I am glad that finally she would be in a classroom. But it is worrying that my daughter and her classmates are not vaccinated,” she said.
Jadavpur resident Partha Dasgupta said he was relieved that his daughter will now be going to school. “My daughter Durga is a student of Class X at Patha Bhavan. She received both jabs and has been taking self-assessment tests in school. I used to send her to school in public transport and was never jittery about that. We must learn to live with the situation,” said Dasgupta.
Tollygunge resident Arpita Bhowmick, a teacher, agreed. Her daughter Aryahi, a Class VIII student of Sushila Birla Girls’ School, has been attending classes from February 3. “My only concern is commuting by public transport but eventually we will have to learn to live with that.”
Psychotherapist Minu Budhia described the move as a positive step. “It is only in a classroom setting that a child learns skills like discipline, sharing, waiting, punctuality, criticism and dealing with failure. Concerts, annual days, sports events, interactive extracurriculars help develop skills which children are missing out on during online classes,” said Budhia, founder of Caring Minds.
Dum Dum homemaker Sucharita Datta, whose daughter Sanjana studies in Class X at DPS Newtown, said: “We were not afraid as the virulence of the pandemic seems to have come down in the past few months. There is no reason to panic now,” she said.