Visakhapatnam: Some like real classes, while others detest

Visakhapatnam: The initial enthusiasm to step into the school campus, meet friends and listen to their favourite teacher imparting lessons has slowly dimmed among children.

After getting bored of virtual classes for the past two years, many students looked forward to getting back to school. In fact, a majority of them could barely wait to bounce back at the playground and share lunch boxes with their friends.

Though the schools have reopened after a long break due to the coronavirus pandemic in the month of August, something seems to be amiss.

As weeks passed, the initial excitement among children has eventually faded. Reduced screen time appears to be the prime reason for the absence of excitement among them. On an average, students used to spend at least four to five hours a day for the online classes and again extended their screen time to complete their daily homework and assignments. In between the classes, they do steal some extra time for online games as well.

However, with schools getting reopened, students are not able to spend much screen time as they used to a few months before.

After school hours, they stretch to complete the daily assignments. "We hardly find time to play virtual games like before. Though we do feel delighted to meet friends in the school and play along with them, it does come at a cost. We need to skip our online games now as there is literally no time for it," rues Ananya Das, a Class VIII student.

For some, gaining access to a mobile phone after school hours turns out to be difficult. "After reaching home, we are not able to play virtual games as our parents strictly say 'no' to it. Earlier, it was a different scenario," says K Abhishanth, another student.

Those who got used to the virtual classes say that it would take a while longer to switch to the 'offline' mode completely.