Should attendance become compulsory or optional in schools?
In this article, I am debating if students should compulsorily attend classes. We think that attendance should become compulsory because students should seriously attend classes and study harder. But we are still fearful as the problem is not yet fully eradicated and the kids are not vaccinated. So, the parents and teachers should effectively communicate with each other to firmly decide if they should send their child to school or not.
Although schools have reopened in many states, attendance is not yet compulsory in schools. Some students are undergoing online education as they are fearful to go to school. In India, some schools with rich infrastructure can provide both online and offline education to students. But some schools are unable to provide online education to students. Attendance should become mandatory in schools
In India, the coronavirus cases are declining day by day and the new variant Omnicron is not causing any serious problem. If attendance is not made mandatory, then the students do not attend classes regularly. Some students opted for online classes but were not studying seriously at home. Some students may attend classes regularly and some students may attend class only if they are in a good mood. The teachers cannot easily track the progress of the students who are attending online classes. A child cannot become truly disciplined or committed to studies unless attendance is made compulsory. Many schools are unable to provide both online and offline education to students because they do not have a rich infrastructure. The teachers and school authorities cannot manage the children studying online. Many students are unable to cope with the school curriculum as they did not attend classes for 18 months. They are not able to write speedily and are not completing class assignments quickly. Some weaker students are not able to even read properly as they have not studied seriously for many months. So, the 10th-grade students are extremely worried about student's performance in board exams. If the students do not regularly attend classes, then they cannot easily grasp any subject later on. If attendance is made compulsory, then the students regularly attend classes. Also, they can gradually adapt to the school curriculum and develop an interest in studies. A child cannot become disciplined and confident unless they attend physical classes. Reasons why attendance should not be made compulsory
Children are not yet vaccinated and obviously, the parents are apprehensive about them. We are still exposed to environmental threats and may become infected due to the variants anytime. Schools are just reopened because the daily cases are declining. But the problem is not yet successfully resolved. Even some parents are not yet vaccinated but are sending the kids to school. Some children have a poor immunity system and are easily prone to infections. So, the students cannot be forced to attend physical classes. If the students get infected with coronavirus or Omnicron, then are the schools willing to pay medical bills? The schools provided consent to the parents stating that they are not responsible if the child is infected with the disease. If the schools are not willing to undertake risks, then they cannot force the students to attend classes. Conclusion
If a child is not able to attend classes due to any reason, then they should meet the school authorities and request online education. They can request the teachers to conduct separate sessions weekly to track the progress of a child if the school is unable to provide online education. Otherwise, a child can study at home and complete class assignments interacting with the teacher daily.
If attendance is not made compulsory, many students would skip college/school classes and they will write examinations and manage their degrees. In my opinion, attending school is not alone to learn or get educated in the subject concerned and passing in the examination. A school will also teach the students how they should lead their life and how they should live in this society. Group dynamics will be understood by the students. They will understand how they should behave with other people and elderly people. A classroom is a small unit of society where different types of people are available and the kids will know how they have to tackle different mentalities of different people.
Not attending classes due to problems like the pandemic etc is a different issue. But when classroom teaching is going on students should attend the classes without fail. This is very important. Students can discuss among themselves and get their doubts clarified. They can ask the teachers in the classroom or separately in the school about the doubts they have and that will make them be good in their subject also.
Keeping the above points in mind we should encourage students to attend classes and it should be made mandatory that there should be minimum attendance prescribed for the students.