LocalCircles, a community social media platform, conducted a survey to get the pulse of parents of school-going children on the issue of school reopening. Schools in India have been shut since March this year following onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the related lockdowns.

The survey received over 14,500 responses from parents located in 217 districts of the country, with 61 per cent parents from Tier 1 districts, 21 per cent from Tier 2 districts and 18 per cent from Tier 3, Tier 4, and rural districts of India.

School reopening

The survey revealed that 71 per cent of the parents are not in favour of the reopening of schools; only 20 per cent want resumption of schools.

Also read: 41% of parents unable to afford education amidst Covid-19 crisis: Survey

LocalCircles had conducted a similar survey in August this year and the percentage of parents who said they wanted to send their kids to school during the Covid-19 pandemic stood at 23 per cent.

The data clearly shows that with rising Covid-19 cases, the percentage of parents willing to send their children to school has dropped from 23 per cent to 20 per cent in one month.

Meanwhile, some states like Tamil Nadu and Tripura have announced that schools in their states will reopen from October 1, on voluntary basis and children of senior classes, i.e. Classes 10-12, can attend school.

The survey also noted that 32 per cent of parents wanted closure of schools till the end of this year, while 34 per cent said that schools should reopen during the 2021 academic session. Seven per cent of the parents said schools should open from October 1 this year, 12 per cent wanted it from November 1, and 9 per cent from December 1. Six per cent said they were unsure.

Also read: Govt issues SOP for partial reopening of schools for classes IX-XII

This means that only 28 per cent of parents are in favour of schools reopening in calendar year 2020.