Even as schools in the city,except some affiliated to the ICSE board,reopened on Monday after a two-week break owing to the swine flu pandemic,fear is still apparent and it reflected in the poor attendance in some schools. In Ahilyadevi High School,as many as 715 students of total 2,200 remained absent. The school was closed after Shruti Gavade,a Class VIII student died on August 10 of swine flu. School principal Tilottama Reddy said the school was taking due precaution. Students are using masks in school and we are not holding assembly at present. We will write to the parents about precautions to be taken, said Reddy. St Annes High School also witnessed low attendance. The school sent at least 10 students back home as they were suffering from cough and cold. Abhinav English Medium School,however,witnessed 90 per cent attendance. The citys first swine flu positive student was from this school. The parents are now well aware about the situation. We are now concentrating on completing the syllabus and have cancelled two consecutive holidays this week. Saturdays will be full working day instead of half day, said Jaya Bhaskar,principal of the school. Attendance at Abhinav and Symbiosis School was as high as 90 per cent. The first few flu cases were detected from these schools. Leena Chaudhari,principal of Symbiosis School,said attendance was almost 85 per cent. We have started special Pranayam classes from today, she said. Preeti Desai,principal of Jyotirmay International School said many students were absent as their parents didnt send them out of sheer concern. Around 10 schools affiliated to the ICSE board have decided to open on August 31. While some parents did send their wards,others decided against it. Most of the school authorities were cautious and teachers screened the students thoroughly. Students with cough and cold were sent back home. I was in two minds about sending our child to school,but finally I sent him, said Anuradha Chitale,mother of a Class II student. I thought we will have to come out of the scare at some point of time. Though care is necessary and I have instructed my child about that, she said. Parents of pre-primary school children,however,refused to take any risk as academics was not an issue for these students. We did not send our child to school as we decided to take a feedback of the first day, said Ashwini Ghaisas,mother of a senior KG school student. Attendance was the lowest in pre-primary schools. We had only 40 to 50 per cent attendance today, said Vidya Satalkar,principal of Abhinav Pre-primary Marathi School. Private classes also reopened today with over 90 per cent attendance. Meanwhile,all colleges also reopened on Monday. While the colleges of engineering and other professional courses witnessed a good crowd,arts,science and arts colleges remained closed owing to teachers strike.
