A number of private schools in the city said they would call primary and middle-school students to the campus in phases until the term break in March and prepare them for the new academic session that starts in April.
Some schools, however, have decided to call students in the two categories only when the new session starts in April.
Schools in the state have been allowed to reopen from Wednesday for students from the pre-primary to the middle school levels. Open-air classes for such students in the government and aided schools were being held till Tuesday.
In-person sessions for Class VIII to XII have already started.
The Heritage School is starting off with classes I to IV on Wednesday. Modern High School for Girls is calling students of classes VI and VII on Friday.
South Point, South City International School, Sri Sri Academy and Indus Valley World School will call students till Class VII next week.
The La Martiniere schools, St James’ School and St Xavier’s Collegiate School have decided to call such students only in April.
Schools that are planning to call students in these groups from next week have sent consent forms to parents to assess how many are willing to send their children to class amid the pandemic.
Private schools are almost at the end of the academic year. In most schools, annual exams for students of Class V and upwards have either started or are scheduled to begin in the next few days.
School heads said they do not want to “disrupt” the schedule by immediately calling primary and middle-school students to the campus.
Many said they were continuing with online exams for classes IV or V to VII or VIII.
Some of the institutions are going ahead with the plan to conduct offline exams for classes IX to XII.
“We are getting about a month now and would want to get children used to coming back to school and start full-fledged in the new session in April,” said Devi Kar, director of Modern High School for Girls.
Schools that have exams now are planning to call primary and middle-school students for activity classes after the tests end in March.
In the schools where junior students are returning, teachers have been asked to focus on co-curricular and outdoor activities, which would give them an opportunity to interact with peers and teachers and help in their overall development.
“We are calling (junior) students from next week and students of some of the classes will come on alternate days. Teachers will conduct academic activities for such students online. In school, they will mostly do activities,” said Amita Prasad, director of Indus Valley World School.
Schools are anticipating challenges in following the hybrid model for the junior students and are planning to face them.
Sri Sri Academy will rearrange sections so that those who are opting for offline classes will be in one section. The rest will continue with online classes.
Schools will also have to plan the reopening carefully instead of rushing into it, keeping in mind the safety of the children as well as the need for the parents to have some time to prepare.
“It could be overwhelming for small children to face many classmates together, many unknown faces, something they are not used to. We have to be careful and plan out their return to campus properly,” said Rupkatha Sarkar, principal of La Martiniere for Girls.
School heads also feel it would be unfair to call students back to the campus on a short notice.
“Some of the students are not in the city and they have to be given time to return,” said Anjana Saha, principal of Mahadevi Birla World Academy.
Government schools are staggering the reopening to avoid crowding on the campus.
Sanskrit Collegiate School will call students of classes I, III and V on Wednesday. Pre-primary students and those in classes II and IV will be called on Thursday, said headmaster Debabrata Mukherjee.
