Majority of parents unwilling to send children to schools when they reopen 1 Sep

Even if governments reopen schools on 1 September, 62% of parents will not be sending their children to attend classes there, according to a survey conducted by LocalCircles. The survey also found that only 6% of respondents would be willing to visit a theatre in the next two months, and 36% were okay with taking a ride in a metro or local train.

India is currently in the third phase of unlock. The fourth phase is scheduled to begin from 1 September but the government is yet to announce guidelines for the same. Under the third phase of lockdown, educational institutions, local trains, metro services and cinema halls were not allowed to be open. The government had given permission to gyms, hotels and restaurants to open in the third phase.

The survey is based on the response from 25,000 people across 261



districts.

Addressing traders through a Digital Samvad on Sunday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that Centre should treat Delhi separately and allow metro services to resume on a trial basis. Delhi has seen a sharp decline in the number of cases. The Delhi government is in favour of resuming metro services to make commuting easier.

“Citizens were asked if the Government decides to restart metro/local trains from Sep 01, 2020, will they be taking them in the next 60 days. 36% answered in a 'yes' while 51% answered in a ‘no’. 13% were unsure about it," the survey said.

On the reopening of cinema halls, only 3% of the respondents said they will go many times while 3% said they will go once or twice. 77% said they will not go to movie halls at all to keep themselves safe. 14% said they don’t go to movie theaters anyways to watch movies.