Telangana: Panchayat organises ‘band baaja’ to welcome students returning to school after 1.5 years

Gram Panchayat members of Rayalapur village in Telangana organised a ‘band baaja’ to welcome students to the primary school which reopened Wednesday after a gap of one-and-a-half-years. The Rayalapur Mandal Parishad Primary School closed on March 25 last year when the Covid-19 lockdowns started and, like all schools, remained shut since then.

“Today morning it was time for a bit of a celebration. The students were returning to school after a long time so the panchayat members decided to organise a welcome for them. The school was decked up and a ‘band baaja’ party beat drums and led the students from the road to the school. The students, who were eager to be in school, enjoyed it,” Siddi Ramulu, the headmaster of the school, said.

“Today, 36 of the 82 students studying in Classes 1 to 5 came to school, and I am hopeful that in the coming days all the students will return,” Ramulu said.

Across the state, all the government schools reopened Wednesday with 50 per cent or less attendance. At most of the private schools, teaching and non-staff were present but very few students came. As per the Covid-19 protocols and directions issued by the Telangana High Court, the teachers and staff at government schools donned masks and kept sanitisers handy.

“If anyone, including students, is found without masks, we are giving them one to wear,” said G Yadaiah, a teacher at Lingampally MPP School. At many government schools in Hyderabad and peripheral areas, parents arrived in the morning to check whether the schools were open or not and then went back and brought their kids. “Some students arrived even after 10 am but we are just happy that they are back to school. The students are also very eager and enthusiastic to be back to their classes,” a teacher at Hyderguda MPP School said.

We also served mid-day meals in all the schools. People are cautious but the first day’s response from the children and the number of students who attended school today is encouraging,’’ said additional director of school education department K Lingaiah.

Gram Panchayat members of Rayalapur village in Telangana organised a ‘band baaja’ to welcome students to the primary school which reopened Wednesday after a gap of one-and-a-half-years. The Rayalapur Mandal Parishad Primary School closed on March 25 last year when the Covid-19 lockdowns started and, like all schools, remained shut since



then.

“Today morning it was time for a bit of a celebration. The students were returning to school after a long time so the panchayat members decided to organise a welcome for them. The school was decked up and a ‘band baaja’ party beat drums and led the students from the road to the school. The students, who were eager to be in school, enjoyed it,” Siddi Ramulu, the headmaster of the school, said.

“Today, 36 of the 82 students studying in Classes 1 to 5 came to school, and I am hopeful that in the coming days all the students will return,” Ramulu said.

Across the state, all the government schools reopened Wednesday with 50 per cent or less attendance. At most of the private schools, teaching and non-staff were present but very few students came. As per the Covid-19 protocols and directions issued by the Telangana High Court, the teachers and staff at government schools donned masks and kept sanitisers handy.

“If anyone, including students, is found without masks, we are giving them one to wear,” said G Yadaiah, a teacher at Lingampally MPP School. At many government schools in Hyderabad and peripheral areas, parents arrived in the morning to check whether the schools were open or not and then went back and brought their kids. “Some students arrived even after 10 am but we are just happy that they are back to school. The students are also very eager and enthusiastic to be back to their classes,” a teacher at Hyderguda MPP School said.

We also served mid-day meals in all the schools. People are cautious but the first day’s response from the children and the number of students who attended school today is encouraging,’’ said additional director of school education department K Lingaiah.

#Telangana | “The students were returning to school after a long time so the panchayat members decided to organise a welcome for them. The school was decked up and a ‘band baaja’ party beat drums and led them to the school," the headmaster saidhttps://t.co/oDyBVSuGbw pic.twitter.com/1liZbQ5VM3

— Express South  (@IExpressSouth) September 1, 2021