TN schools, HEIs reopen, students happy to be back in classrooms

“More than 90% attendance was reported on Day 1. We followed all SOPs to ensure the students’ safety and also ensured that all teachers were vaccinated,” RC Saraswathi, headmistress, Government Girls HSS in Ashok Nagar, told DT Next.

She said only 20 students were allowed into the classrooms. While school management, including private institutions have ensured that all teaching staff and vice chacellors in colleges have got at least one vaccine shot, immunisation drives are on in colleges to ensure students get inoculated. Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Association president PK Ilamaran, also a teacher in a government high school in Kodungaiyur, said that apart from strictly adopting SOPs, counselling was provided to students to allay fears of the pandemic.

School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi also conducted a surprise inspection at a few government schools in the city when he reiterated that parents can send their wards to schools without fear. Inspecting Anna University campus, Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi said health camps have been organised in all colleges so that students can be vaccinated. “Students, who do not want to attend classes, can attend online sessions to be held daily,” he added.