The lockdown has been difficult for everyone including parents who have had to change their entire daily routine and make several adjustments – homeschooling the kids, working from home and doing household chores without any help from the maids.

According to a nationwide survey by ParentCircle, almost 92 percent of Indian parents do not want to send their children back to school immediately upon reopening. The study covering 12,000 respondents revealed that most parents want to be absolutely sure that the COVID-19 pandemic is completely under control before taking the risk of sending their kids back to school. The hesitation is not confined to any particular city or a hotspot, but across cities. The study further states that 56 percent of respondents want to wait and assess for at least a month post reopening of the schools before sending their children. Hardly, 8 percent of parents are willing to send their kids back to school immediately. Homeschooling, which was not so popular earlier has now witnessed a surge in ratings with 15 percent of people considering it as an option.

The study also covered other aspects including playing with other kids, going to birthday parties, engaging in sports, going on vacations, visiting malls and restaurants that are associated with the regular lifestyle of kids. Many parents are also unwilling to send their kids to birthday parties. Sixty four per cent of them responded to the survey saying that they are unwilling to send their children to birthday parties for the rest of the year even if precautions such as social distancing norms are taken. They would also like to wait and check the situation before deciding to let their kids play with other kids. While 35 percent of them said they are willing to let their children play with other kids, but with social distancing norms, 50 percent of parents want to wait and assess the situation before deciding, they have also said no to malls and movies for the rest of the year. Less than 0.5 percent of parents are willing to indulge in these activities as soon as the lockdown ends.

While 26 percent of parents would like to switch to online classes, 43 percent of them think it can wait until things get better. Also, as many as 70 percent of respondents want their children to do namaste instead of handshakes.

Also read: Karnataka schools likely to reopen on June 1