Mumbai goes back to school, but swine flu fear lingers

The city schools and junior colleges resumed classes on Thursday after an eight-day break. Some even conducted semester exams. But low attendance, particularly in the primary sections, made it evident that the swine flu scare was very much there, with many parents choosing to keep their kids home for the rest of the week.

“The classrooms in kindergarten and primary sections bore a deserted look. Only 50% attended school,” said Lalitha Hariharan, principal, Rizvi Springfield School, Bandra. “Our secondary section saw 70% attendance. Several parents thought that the school would be starting on Friday, and chose to keep their children home for the weekend.”

There were exceptions though. Rims International School, Juhu, which had downed shutters after rumours of a student testing positive for swine flu, had full attendance. Principal Kishore Pillai said, “The panic has subsided. We had regular classes. None of the students were wearing masks. We are maintaining high hygiene standards.”

Back in business, some schools are planning to resume regular group activities. Rustomjee International School, Dahisar, which had cancelled several field trips, is planning to reschedule them. “We had cancelled several field trips that were to happen this month. But now that the panic has died down, we will try rescheduling them. We will also resume other extra curricular activities at the earliest. Our students will soon be organising an eye donation campaign,” said director Hanif Kanjer.

For junior colleges, it was back to regular lectures. Mindful of having lost more than 20 teaching days, the students returned in right earnest.

Kirti Narain, principal of Jai Hind College, Churchgate, said, “Students in all the classes turned out in full strength for the lectures. We are contemplating working during weekends. It will be difficult to finish the syllabus without taking extra classes to make up for the lost time.”